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SRINAGAR, India, Dec 2 (AFP) - An Indian soldier was killed and six others injured in an overnight ambush by Muslim militants in disputed Kashmir, while six rebels and two civilians were killed elsewhere, police said Monday.

The militants, armed with rifles and grenades, ambushed an army convoy in the village of Reshipora, near the town of Banihal, 120 kilometers (75 miles) south of Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian Kashmir late Sunday.

One soldier was killed on the spot while the others, including two officers, sustained serious injuries, a police spokesman said. He named the wounded officers as Lieutenant Colonel R.M. Raina and Junior Commissioned Officer T.S. Raju.

The convoy was on its way from Jammu, the southern winter capital, to Srinagar when it came under attack.

Meanwhile, India's Border Security Force (BSF) killed three high-ranking members of the hardline Islamic militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba in the village of Hajan, 40 kilometers (25 miles) north of Srinagar on Monday, a BSF spokesman said.

He said the three "top militants" were killed in a six-hour battle on a hill.

The spokesman said one of the three slain militants was a Pakistani, while two others -- Bashir Ahmed and Akbar Bhat -- were locals.

Ahmed was Lashkar's "district commander" for Budgam.

"Both Ahmed and Bhat were carrying rewards of 100,000 rupees (about 2,000 dollars) on their heads," he said, adding Bhat was wanted for 32 killings, including three security force personnel.

Three Kalashnikov rifles, one grenade launcher and four grenades were recovered from the scene.

BSF members killed another Lashkar militant in Sopore, 50 kilometers (31 miles) north of Srinagar, late Sunday, when he was about to carry out an attack on their camp, the spokesman said.

"Another militant managed to escape under the cover of darkness after firing indiscriminately," he said, adding the slain militant was a Pakistani named Sohail, alias Abu Ahmed.

A border guard was injured by the gunfire.

Elswhere Indian troops shot dead two militants in southern Poonch district Monday, a police spokesman said.

He said suspected militants killed two civilians in northern Baramulla and Kupwara districts overnight, police said.

More than 37,500 people have died in scenic Kashmir since the eruption of an anti-India rebellion in the region in 1989. Separatists put the toll twice as high.

The violence has continued unabated, despite a new leader, Mufti Mohammed Sayeed, taking charge of the state on November 2.

Sayeed has said he would bring a "healing touch" to the people of the region and has promised to release separatist leaders and militants in order to start a process of dialogue on the future of the restive state. 

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