<p><br /> Two separatist militants have been shot dead in the Maloora village of Srinagar, Kashmir, ending a nine-hour gun battle.<br /> </p><p><br /> It was the fourth such clash in the disputed Himalayan region in a week and comes amid fears of an escalation in rebel violence after a period of relative decline.<br /> </p><p><br /> The spike in violence, security agencies suspect, may also signal a new rebel strategy to back popular street protests with increased militant attacks on Indian forces that they accuse of trying to put down the demonstrations with a heavy hand.<br /> </p><p><br /> Police evacuated hundreds of residents immediately after a firefight erupted between troops and three members of the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad militant group in a populated area on outskirts of Srinagar, Himalayan region's summer capital.<br /> </p><p><br /> "We have recovered two dead bodies. Regarding the third...we are still searching," said Syed Ashiq Hussian Bukhari, Senior Superintendent of Police, Srinagar.<br /> </p><p><br /> The heavy exchange of fire forced children, women and other residents to abandon their homes and flee to safer areas.<br /> </p><p><br /> The militant violence comes at a time when New Delhi is struggling to calm anti-India protests on Kashmir's streets that have kept the region on the boil.<br /> </p><p><br /> At least 110 people have been killed since June, mostly by police bullets, during the protests, biggest in two-decades.<br /> </p>
