Indian security forces killed at least three civilians and wounded about 70 in restive Kashmir on Sunday when hundreds of people tried to prevent them from carrying out operations against suspected militants, police and residents said.

At least 17 other people, including 13 suspected militants, were killed in gunbattles during the day in southern Kashmir, police officials said, the worst violence in the region this year.

When hundreds of people came out on the streets of Kachdoora village in Shopian district to try to halt a gunbattle between militants and security forces, troops used tear gas and pellet guns to disperse the crowd. They later opened fire.

Locals said that after the protests, the security forces called off the operation. Police said five militants and three soldiers were killed in the fighting.

Muslim separatists have been waging a violent campaign against Indian rule since the late 1980s in Indian-held Kashmir.