Indian soldiers shot dead five Kashmir militants including a rebel university teacher in a gunfight yesterday that triggered violent protests in which five civilians were killed.

Thousands took to the streets in south Kashmir to show support for the slain militants. Government forces opened fire to break up the protests, director general of police Shesh Paul Vaid said. Hundreds of people were injured in the protests, according to doctors.

Government forces swooped on the village of Badigam, in Shopian district south of the capital Srinagar, following a tip-off about armed militants holed up inside a house.

The rebels refused an offer to surrender, triggering a fierce gun battle, Vaid told AFP.

A special appeal was made to Mohammad Rafi Bhat to surrender, a Kashmir University sociology teacher who only went underground with the rebels on Friday.

A top commander of Hizbul Mujahideen, a key rebel group, was also among the dead.

As news of the trapped militants spread, residents took to the streets across southern Kashmir shouting slogans demanding an end to Indian rule, witnesses and a police officer said.

Another police officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, said at least 30 people were injured in clashes with government forces who fired live ammunition, pellet guns and tear gas.

A doctor at a hospital in Shopian said hundreds of injured needed treatment.