Indian police say they've killed key Kashmiri rebel leader

A Kashmiri family watches from the window of their house near the site of a gunbattle in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Tuesday, May. 24, 2016. Indian police killed the operations head of a major militant group and his associate in the Indian portion of Kashmir in an overnight gunbattle, a police officer said Tuesday. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan) (The Associated Press)

An Indian policeman guard is photographed near the site of a gunbattle in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Tuesday, May. 24, 2016. Indian police killed the operations head of a major militant group and his associate in the Indian portion of Kashmir in an overnight gunbattle, a police officer said Tuesday. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan) (The Associated Press)

SRINAGAR, India – Police say they've killed the operations head of a major militant group in the Indian portion of Kashmir in an overnight gunbattle.

Police officer Syed Javaid Mujtaba Gillani says the Jaish-e-Mohammed group's operations chief and another militant were targeted following intelligence information that they were present in a home in Srinagar, the main city in the Indian portion of Kashmir.

The identity of the other rebel killed was not immediately known. There was no independent confirmation of the incident.

Jaish-e-Mohammed has been active in Kashmir for more than 15 years. India blames the group for a series of attacks in the Himalayan region and in Indian cities.

Rebel groups have been fighting against Indian rule since 1989 for Kashmir's independence or its merger with Pakistan.