SRINAGAR – Indian security forces killed at least three civilians andwounded about 70 in India held Kashmir on Sunday when hundreds of peopletried to prevent them from carrying out operations against suspectedmilitants, police and residents said.

At least 17 other people, including 13 suspected militants, were killed ingunbattles during the day in southern Kashmir, police officials said, theworst violence in the region this year.

When hundreds of people came out on the streets of Kachdoora village inShopian district to try to halt a gunbattle between militants and securityforces, troops used tear gas and pellet guns to disperse the crowd. Theylater opened fire.

Local residents said that after the protests, the security forces calledoff the operation. Police said five militants and three soldiers werekilled in the fighting.

Separatists have been waging a violent campaign against Indian rule sincethe late 1980s in Indian-held Kashmir.

Fighting also broke out in two other villages in the region on Sunday.

S.P. Vaid, the state director general of police, said the army receivedinformation on Saturday night about militants hiding in an area near Dragadvillage, about 50 km (30 miles) south of Kashmir’s capital of Srinagar andalso in Shopian district.

“In Dragad, 7 bodies of militants were recovered including top commanders.They were killed in a gunbattle,” Vaid said, adding that the owner of thehouse in which the militants were trapped was also killed.

Another militant was killed in Dialgam village in Anantnag district, about60 km (37 miles) south of Srinagar, while one was caught alive, he said.

Authorities have directed schools and colleges in Kashmir to remain closedon Monday to prevent any recurrence of violence, and restrictions have beenimposed in several areas.

Train services to south Kashmir have been suspended as a precautionarymeasure, a railways official said, and internet services in five districtshave also been blocked.

In south Kashmir’s Pulwama district the local administration has imposedrestrictions on the movement of people and vehicles to prevent anyviolence. – Agencies