SRINAGAR, April 2: Indian troops have dealt a fresh blow to occupied Kashmir’s main Mujahideen group by killing two of its top commanders during a gun battle that also left a soldier and a civilian dead, police said on Wednesday.

The fighting erupted late Tuesday when Indian troops, backed by counter-insurgency police, raided a hide-out near Srinagar.

“We have killed two top Hizbul Mujahideen commanders,” said Nitish Kumar, the police chief for Anantnag district, where the clash took place.

Hizbul Mujahideen, which wants to fold Indian Kashmir into Pakistan, is the main group fighting Indian forces in occupied Kashmir.

Kumar identified the two commanders as “divisional commander” Aslam Khan, alias Zia-ur-Rehman, and “district commander” Javaid Ahmad Lone, alias Nazar.

The owner of the house where the Kashmiri freedom fighters were hiding also died during the fire fight that lasted for four hours. An Indian soldier died in the initial burst of fighting, Kumar said.

“The killing of two commanders is a serious setback to the Hizbul Mujahideen,” he said.

Last month security forces said they had shot dead three top Hizb commanders and also arrested a leading rebel allegedly involved in nearly 30 killings.

Kashmir is in the grip of an 18-year-old rebellion against Indian rule that has left more than 43,000 people dead by official count.

CALL FOR PROBE: The people of occupied Kashmir urged Amnesty International on Wednesday to help identify human remains in nearly a thousand unmarked graves discovered by a local human rights group over the past year.