Indian troops killed at least three Muslim militants in a gun battle in the forests of Indian Kashmir today, police said.
The clash took place in the forested foothills of the Pir Panjal range, a favoured hideout of separatist guerrillas to the south of Kashmir's summer capital Srinagar.
Over the past two months, Indian forces have begun appears to be a major offensive against militants inside Indian Kashmir, while also trying to stop others from infiltrating from neighbouring Pakistan.
About a dozen Muslim separatist rebel groups have been battling Indian forces in Kashmir since 1989.
Hundreds of troops backed by helicopters were deployed last month to destroy a large mountain base of guerrillas in the Surankote area in the southern part of Jammu and Kashmir state. More than 60 rebels were killed in that operation.
The offensive appeared to be part of a strategy to try to ease the separatist revolt by trying to improve conditions for the people of Indian Kashmir while also aggressively hunting down militants hiding out in its remote forested mountains.
India has also begun a peace process with Pakistan, which it has long accused of arming, training and funding militants and sending them into Indian Kashmir to join the revolt.