Two dead in Kashmir gun battle

SRINAGAR, Aug 21(Reuters): Indian security forces killed a suspected militant in a gun battle in Kashmir on Wednesday, police said, the first clash since the federal government removed the special status of the territory this month, fuelling anger.

Two policemen were wounded in the fighting that erupted in Baramulla in northern Kashmir, one of them dying later in hospital, police said.

Militants fighting Indian rule in Muslim majority Kashmir have vowed to carry on their armed struggle after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government lifted restrictions on property purchases and government jobs and opened them up to people from outside the state.

Protests have erupted in Kashmir's main city of Srinagar and arch rival Pakistan which lays claim to Kashmir said it would take the decades old dispute to the International Court of Justice.

Meanwhile report by AP adds: At least 2,300 people, mostly young men, have been detained in Indian-administered Kashmir during a security lockdown and communications blackout imposed to curb unrest after New Delhi stripped the disputed region of statehood, according to top Kashmir police and arrest statistics reviewed by The Associated Press.