Updated

The Indian army says it has killed four militants in a gunbattle near the Kashmir border separating Pakistan from India's portion of the Himalayan region.

Army spokesman Col. N. N. Joshi says the gunbattle occurred in the state's Kupwara district and began early Sunday.

In a separate incident, a policeman was killed when a gunbattle broke out between rebels and security forces in the state's Poonch district.

The Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir has been racked by protests for the past two months following the killing of a top rebel leader.

India accuses Pakistan of training and financing militants and helping them infiltrate into Indian Kashmir. Islamabad denies the charge, saying it offers only moral and diplomatic support to the militants and to Kashmiris who oppose Indian rule.