SRINAGAR, June 24: Two militants and an Indian army officer were killed and 15 people were hurt in fresh shootouts and a grenade blast in occupied Kashmir, police said on Saturday.

The deaths took place in the district of Pulwama on Saturday when the Indian army raided a rebel hide-out, a police spokesman said.

“As the soldiers raided a hideout, militants opened fire killing an army officer and wounding a soldier,” the spokesman said, adding that two rebels were killed in the retaliatory action.

In Srinagar, nine civilians and a policeman were hurt in a grenade attack on Saturday by suspected rebels in a busy commercial street, Srinagar police chief said.

“The grenade was aimed at police but mostly injured civilians,” he said.

The noise from the blasts sparked panic in the street as rescuers removed injured to hospital. Meanwhile, four people were injured when they were caught in crossfire between rebels and security forces in the northern town of Patan, a police spokesman said.—AFP