Two dead in Kashmir gunbattle, the first since revocation of status

SRINAGAR, India, (Reuters) - Indian security forces killed a suspected militant in a gunbattle in Kashmir on Wednesday, police said, the first clash since the federal government removed the special status of the territory this month, fuelling anger.

Two policemen were wounded in the fighting that erupted in Baramulla in northern Kashmir, one of them dying later in hospital, police said.

Militants fighting Indian rule in Muslim majority Kashmir have vowed to carry on their armed struggle after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government lifted restrictions on property purchases and government jobs and opened them up to people from outside the state.

Protests have erupted in Kashmir’s main city of Srinagar and arch rival Pakistan which lays claim to Kashmir said it would take the decades old dispute to the International Court of Justice.

Thousands of additional paramilitary troops have been deployed in Kashmir to control the insurgency and on Tuesday night they raided the old part of Baramulla, a police officer said. Suspected militants fired a grenade, wounding two policemen, the officer said.