SRINAGAR, Aug 2: Five militants and an Indian soldier died in clashes on Wednesday in occupied Kashmir where violence has been escalating in recent months, police said.

Police said two militants and a soldier were killed in a pre-dawn gunfight in Doda, south of Srinagar.

“The fighting erupted when rebels raided a militant hideout in the forest area of Mughal Maidan,” a police spokesman said.

He said troops also shot dead three militants in separate early morning clashes near Tral town, south of Srinagar and in northern Bandipora town.

BLAST: Suspected militants threw a grenade near a bus stand near Jammu on Wednesday, wounding over a dozen people, police said.

The grenade was aimed at a federal police patrol but missed and exploded among people standing close to a crowded bus stand in Surankote town, 230 km north of Jammu.

Five of the wounded were in serious condition, a police officer said.—AFP/Reuters