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Militants shot dead five Hindu villagers and security forces killed three rebels in separate incidents in the restive Kashmir region on Sunday, officials said.
"Militants descended on a village and barged into the houses of the minority community and opened fire. Five people died and four were injured," a police official said in Jammu, the winter capital of Jammu and Kashmir, India's only Muslim-majority state.
He said security forces had been rushed to Balmatkote village near Udhampur, 66 km east of Jammu, after the killings.
In Srinagar, the state's summer capital, a security official said three members of a pro-Pakistan rebel group were killed in a gun battle with Indian troops.
He said two soldiers were also wounded in the armed encounter, which took place in Budgam district west of Srinagar.
The fresh violence comes as tensions between nuclear rivals India and Pakistan have begun to ease after US-led international efforts to pull them back from the brink of a fourth war.
"Army and BSF (Border Security Force) in a joint operation shot dead three militants of the Hizbul Mujahideen group," a BSF spokesman told Reuters.
Terrorism Strikes in Jammu and Kashmir: The complete coverage
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