Two air force commandos and two suspected freedom fighters were killed during a gunbattle Wednesday in Indian-held Kashmir, the army said, during an upsurge in violence in the disputed region. The fighting started when soldiers searching for freedom fighters cordoned off a neighbourhood in the northern town of Hajin. "It was a difficult operation. Two freedom fighters were killed in the encounter. unfortunately two air force commandos also died," a police officer told AFP.

The deaths came two days after a leader of the banned group Jaish-e-Mohammad was killed in a shoot-out with government forces in held Kashmir. The fighting has left tens of thousands dead, most of them civilians and earlier this year India launched "Operation Allout" to hunt down the freedom fighters.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2017