SRINAGAR: Rebels lobbed grenades at a major police station in Indian-administered Kashmir on Saturday, authorities said, wounding three civilians and two policemen.

A suspected militant was killed when police shot back after the raid on the police station in northern Sopore town around noon.

“One of the attackers was killed in the encounter that ensued after police launched a search operation minutes after the attack,” a police officer said.

“We are searching more structures in the area as we believe the attackers were more than one,” he added, asking not to be named because he was not authorised to talk to the media.

Kashmir has been hit by an insurgency since 1989 that has left more than 47,000 people dead by official count.

Militant violence has dropped sharply in Kashmir since India and Pakistan, which each hold the region in part but claim it in full, started a peace process in 2004.

Last month militants made an abortive attempt on the life of a senior Kashmir minister in the ruling pro-India alliance.