At least 15 people including 13 separatist guerrillas are reported to have been killed in Indian administered Kashmir.

Nine militants and an Indian army captain were killed in a gunbattle in Hafroda forests, 87 km (54 miles) from the capital, Srinagar.

Meanwhile, a top Indian army official in Kashmir, Major General JR Mukherjee has said at least 2500 militants "were waiting for an opportunity to sneak into the Kashmir valley".

In separate shootouts elsewhere, security forces were said to have shot dead three separatists in Kupwara district.

Police said Indian soldiers also shot dead an unidentified militant at Garkhal in the Jammu region.

Hizbul attack

In another incident, militants from the armed separatist group Hizbul Mujahideen threw grenades at the headquarters of the Indian paramilitary Border Security Force in Srinagar.

However, there were no casualties as the grenades missed the building.