SRINAGAR, India - The Indian army said Friday it had killed three suspected Muslim militants in a shootout in Indian-ruled Kashmir. The three men were shot dead in the region's southern district of Doda, army spokesman Biplav Nath told AFP.

"We are in the process of ascertaining their identity and the group they belong to," Nath said.

A Muslim police officer who requested anonymity said the three were members of Lashkar-e-Taiba - the Pakistan-based group blamed for the Mumbai attacks in November last year.

Suspected militants late Thursday shot dead a middle-aged man in Pulwama district, about 40 kilometres (25 miles) south of the Kashmiri summer capital Srinagar, a police statement said.

The motive for the killing was not immediately clear, but rebels often target people suspected of spying for the security forces or having links with pro-India political parties.

Kashmir is in the grip of a nearly 20-year insurgency against Indian rule that has claimed thousands of lives.