SRINAGAR, Feb 26: Troops shot dead three militants in a gunbattle and two soldiers and a civilian were wounded in a car bomb blast in Kashmir, the army said on Sunday.

The explosion happened when an army convoy was on the move near Srinagar, said army spokesman Vijay Batra.

He said a lone militant parked a car packed with explosives on the roadside and fled into a neighbouring housing development.

The spokesman said troops shot dead three militants of two hardline rebel groups near the northern town of Bandipora on Saturday.—AFP