A policeman was killed and at least three others suffered injuries on Friday after freedom fighters attacked a joint team of security forces with a grenade in Bandipora in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).

According to the media reports, that the grenade attack was carried out on a joint team of security forces.

The injured have been rushed to the hospital and the reinforcements have reached the spot. The area has been cordoned off and an operation has been started to nab the attackers.

Kashmir is divided between India and Pakistan and both rivals claim the region in its entirety. Freedom fighters have been fighting against Indian rule since 1989.

Human and civil rights groups say some 70,000 people, many of them civilians, have been killed in the conflict to date.

In August 2019, Modi’s BJP-led government stripped the partial autonomy of the region and divided it into two federally-governed territories – a move that has further increased tension in the disputed region.

The move was followed by a months-long security and communications lockdown with hundreds of Kashmiri politicians, lawyers and activists arrested shortly after.

Officials say that since then, about 370 freedom fighters, 96 civilians and 83 security personnel have died, according to AFP.