Police in Indian-controlled Kashmir say security forces have killed a top commander of a Pakistan-based militant group.

Abdullah Uni, an operational commander of Lashkar-e-Taiba, was killed Tuesday in a gunbattle with Indian forces in the Kashmiri town of Sopore.

Lashkar-e-Taiba was blamed for the 2008 terrorist attacks on the Indian city of Mumbai, which killed 166 people.

Police say Uni was responsible for carrying out deadly attacks on security forces, civilians and politicians in Kashmir.

The Lashkar commander was also accused of involvement in the killing of a cleric , who died in a bomb blast at a Srinagar mosque in April.

Kashmir is divided between India and Pakistan and claimed in full by both countries.

Muslim separatists have been fighting for independence from Hindu-majority India or a merger with Muslim-majority Pakistan. Thousands have been killed in the more than 20-year insurgency.