At least seven civilians were killed and over three dozen injured Saturday when government forces fired at anti-India protesters in disputed Kashmir following a gunbattle that left three rebels and a soldier dead, police and residents said. Indian troops surrounded a village in the southern Pulwama area on a tip that militants were hiding there, said Muneer Ahmed Khan, a top police officer. Three rebels and a soldier were killed in the exchange of gunfire, and one soldier was wounded, he said. The gunbattle sparked protests, with hundreds of people chanting pro-militant slogans and calling for an end to Indian rule over the Himalayan region. "They (Indian troops) fired at us as if they were practicing their guns," said Shabir Ahmed, a local resident who accompanied some injured taken to a hospital in Srinagar, the region's main city.

Source: ABC News December 15, 2018 06:15 UTC