A police officer has been killed and two colleagues wounded in an attack by suspected militants in Indian-administered Kashmir, police say.
Militants fired at the policemen while they were patrolling a market in Chadoora town in Budgam district, 25km (16 miles) from Srinagar city.
Sub Inspector Shabir Ahmad died of his injuries after he and his colleagues were taken to hospital, police said.
Kashmir has seen an armed insurgency against Indian rule since 1989.
India has deployed tens of thousands of police and paramilitary forces in the region.
In recent years, violence has abated from its peak in the 1990s but the causes of the insurgency are still far from resolved.
Also, the hanging earlier this year of a Kashmiri man, Afzal Guru, on charges of plotting the 2001 attack on India’s parliament, has triggered a fresh spate of violence.
Last month, two policemen were killed by suspected militants who ambushed them when they were leaving work at Awantipora, near Srinagar city.
In September security forces shot dead three men who stormed a police station and an army camp, killing at least 10 people.
In March, two armed militants disguised as cricket players attacked a paramilitary camp and killed five troops. The militants were killed in retaliatory fire. Two people were arrested in connection with the attack.
