Indian troops have shot dead three Muslim militants in Kashmir and freed seven hostages they seized after going on a killing spree, the army said yesterday.
Two militants were shot on Wednesday evening during a fierce gun battle, but three male hostages were killed by their captors.
"The operation is over. We killed third militant early today (Thursday)," Indian army spokesman Lieutenant Colonel SD Goswami told AFP from the stand-off on the outskirts of Hindu-dominated Jammu city.
The army had earlier said only women and children were taken hostage.
On Wednesday, police said the militants opened fire on an army post killing one officer and wounding two other soldiers.
The soldiers retaliated but the militants escaped in a taxi rickshaw and later killed its driver and two other civilians.
They then barricaded themselves in a house and took 10 people hostage, the police said.
Goswami said a total of 10 people were killed -- three militants, six civilians and an army officer.
"The dead militants are believed to be Pakistani nationals and most probably members of Lashkar-e-Toiba," he said, referring to a hardline Islamic group.
Police chief K. Rajindera Kumar said the militants had entered Jammu from Pakistan after cutting through a border fence on Tuesday.
Meanwhile authorities briefly relaxed a curfew in sensitive parts of Srinagar, the biggest city in Indian Kashmir, for the first time since its imposition on Sunday.
Residents queued outside bakeries, groceries and medical stores.
On Wednesday, during a period when the curfew was lifted, security forces fired teargas and warning shots at demonstrations against Indian rule.