SRINAGAR, March 4: Five Indian policemen and 17 Mujahideen were killed in a series of gunfights occupied Kashmir on Sunday night and Monday.

An Indian spokesman claimed eight freedom fighters were killed in an encounter that lasted till early hours on Monday near Keri, in Poonch district, 256kms north of held Jammu.

Four policemen were killed when Mujahideen ambushed a police patrol on Monday in Gool, Udhampur district, 233kms from Srinagar.

Indian forces also claimed killing four unidentified men on Monday in a gunbattle near the Line of Control.

In Kolakote two members of the Hizbul Mujahideen were killed in another gunfight, police said.

Still later, a shootout erupted between Mujahideen and Indian forces in the Baramulla district, north of Srinagar.

“Three security force personnel were injured. The encounter is still going on. Details are awaited,” a police official said.

Elsewhere three Mujahideen and a policeman were killed in separate shootouts since Sunday evening, police said.—Reuters