(Adds details) SRINAGAR, India, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Three Indian soldiers were killed in Kashmir on Friday when suspected separatist militants ambushed an army patrol, an army spokesman said. A villager was also killed in an exchange of fire between the army and the militants that erupted after the attack in Pulwama, sparking protests from hundreds of residents. No militant group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack, the second in Pulwama district -- about 35 km (20 miles) south of Srinagar, Kashmir's summer capital -- within a week. "The area has been cordoned off and search operation in the area continues," army spokesman Lieutenant Colonel A.K. Mathur said. Last Friday, four policemen were killed and three were wounded in a militant ambush in the same district. Hundreds of people shouting "We want justice!" took to streets in the area, saying the army had dragged the villager out of a mosque and killed him in cold blood, witnesses said. Army spokesman Lieutenant Colonel A.K. Mathur said the villager had been killed by bullets fired by the rebels. Over the last 12 days, Kashmir has witnessed numerous protests by hundreds of people against the police who are accused of staging mock gunbattles and killing innocent civilians who they falsely claimed were militants. Four policemen have been arrested, accused of killing three people on the outskirts of Srinagar late last year and passing them off as militants to win rewards. Authorities say overall violence has ebbed in Kashmir since India and Pakistan, which claim the region in full and rule in parts, began a peace process in 2004. However, people are still killed in daily shootouts and occasional grenade attacks. Officials say more than 40,000 people have been killed in the disputed Himalayan region since a bloody rebellion broke out in 1989. Human rights groups put the toll at about 60,000 dead or missing.
