Soldiers die in Kashmir violence

Government troops surrounded a residential neighbourhood

Four soldiers have been killed in a gun battle with rebels in Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian-administered Kashmir, police say.

A local commander of the Pakistan-based militant group, Lashkar-e-Taiba, was also reported killed and three other soldiers were wounded in the fighting.

The fighting broke out after troops raided a militant hideout.

The violence comes days after rebels detonated a powerful bomb in Srinagar, killing one person and wounding 12.

Officials said the gunfight had started on Sunday morning after government troops received a tip-off that militants were in the area and surrounded a residential neighbourhood.

"Militants hiding in a house fired indiscriminately," Srinagar police chief Syed Ahfadul Mujtaba told Reuters news agency.

Islamists militants have been fighting a nearly two-decade old insurgency in Kashmir.

India and Pakistan each hold part of the region and claim it in its entirety.

India has frequently accused Pakistan of sponsoring the insurgency - a charge Pakistan denies.

More than 60,000 people have been killed since the insurgency began in 1989.

The level of violence has decreased since Delhi and Islamabad embarked on a peace process in 2004.