At least 10 people were killed today and 20 wounded in a grenade and gun attack by militants near a Hindu temple in Jammu, the winter capital of strife-torn Jammu and Kashmir state.
Police said the militants threw a grenade in Jammu's main trading center of Raghunath Bazar near a famous temple of the Hindu God-king Ram before opening fire with automatic weapons in a bid to enter the place of worship.
A gunbattle between the rebels and security forces then erupted.
"Four security force personnel, four civilians and two suspected militants were killed. Another 20 people, mostly civilians, were wounded in the attack," a police official told Reuters.
"Security forces have cordoned off the temple and the adjacent area and launched a massive search to nab the third militant who is believed to be hiding in the vicinity," the official said.
Senior administration officials visited the scene and security has been tightened following the attack.
"The situation in the town is well under control and is being watched carefully," Jammu's Divisional Commissioner Anil Goswami said.
Blood stains covered the temple floor, which was littered with spent gun cartridges. Shops and businesses in the city have been shut following the attack.
No militant group has claimed responsibility for the attack that left some of the wounded in serious condition.
Police said two assault rifles, one pistol, six grenades and some ammunition were recovered from the dead rebels.
About a dozen militant groups are fighting India's rule in Muslim-majority Kashmir, where authorities say about 33,000 people have died in 12 years of rebellion.
Separatists put the toll closer to 80,000.
India, which controls 45 percent of disputed Kashmir, accuses Pakistan of arming and training militants. Pakistan, which rules over a third of the territory, denies the charge and says it only offers moral, political and diplomatic support to Kashmiri separatists.
The mountainous region remains at the heart of a military stand-off between India and Pakistan, which have fought two of their three wars over Kashmir since independence from Britain in 1947.
The stand-off was triggered after an attack on India's parliament last December, which New Delhi blamed on Pakistan-based Kashmiri separatists. Close to a million troops are mobilized on both sides of the border.