HELD SRINAGAR: Four police officers and two suspected rebels have been killed in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) during a drawn-out firefight that also left several policemen wounded, security forces said.

The Indian army’s Rising Star Corps said in a Saturday social media post that “relentless operations” led to the “elimination of two terrorists”, a term commonly used for rebels opposed to Indian rule in Kashmir.

The clash began Thursday in the rugged and forested area of Kathua in the south of the disputed territory when a police foot patrol was ambushed while searching for militants, leaving four police dead, police chief Nalin Prabhat told reporters late on Friday.

India has an estimated half a million soldiers permanently deployed in the territory, and rebel groups have fought for decades demanding independence for Kashmir or its merger with Pakistan.