SRINAGAR, Sept 17: Eight suspected militants were shot dead by troops after gunbattles across held Kashmir as part of intensified efforts to hunt down insurgents, police said on Sunday.

Six suspected militants were killed in three separate gunbattles late Saturday in the southern Pulwama district, a police spokesman said, adding two policemen were also hurt in one of the gunbattles.

“The firefights erupted when troops backed by police found the militants in their hideouts in the district,” the spokesman said.

In other fighting, troops killed two rebels on Saturday in the northern Kupwara district which borders LoC, police said.

Indian troops have intensified counter-insurgency operations across the state over the past few weeks, police said, noting that two senior commanders of hardline rebel group Lashkar-i-Taiba were killed on Friday as part of the crackdown.—AFP