Indian troops on Friday killed eight suspected militants, five of them when they tried to sneak into Indian Kashmir from the Pakistani side of the disputed region, officials said.
One policeman was also killed during a gunbattle in Kangan area, about 40 kilometres (25 miles) east of Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian-ruled Kashmir, a police statement said.
It said that during the fighting three militants were killed jointly by Indian troops and police.
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Indian soldiers killed five heavily armed militants in northern Machil sector as they tried to infiltrate into Indian Kashmir, military spokesman Vineet Sood said.
"By killing five militants we have foiled an attempt by militants to infiltrate into our side of Kashmir," he said, adding a search operation by the army was going on along the Line of Control -- the demarcation that splits Kashmir between the South Asian rivals.
The insurgency against Indian rule has left more than 47,000 people dead by official count since it erupted in 1989.
Violence dropped after India and Pakistan launched a peace process in 2004 but Sood said militants would try to infiltrate before harsh Himalayan winters close any possible routes.
Pakistan denies the Indian charge that it arms and funds Kashmiri rebels, who want to join Indian Kashmir with Pakistan or make it an independent state.
Kashmir has been under rolling curfews since early June, when a 17-year-old student was killed by a police teargas shell. Since then, a total of 109 protesters and bystanders have died in the region.
The almost daily clashes between stone-throwing protesters and security forces are testing India's hold over the region.
The area was put under curfew Friday to preempt any violence after a court ruled that Muslims and Hindus should share a disputed site that has sparked violence in the past.
