Two guerrillas, soldier killed in Kashmir gunfight

Two separatist guerrillas and a soldier were killed in a gunfight between security forces and guerrillas in Jammu and Kashmir's Shopian district Friday, police said.

A senior police officer said the gunfight ensued after a joint team of counter-insurgency Rashtriya Rifles (RR) and the special operations group (SOG) of the state police surrounded a house in Manloo village of Shopian Friday afternoon following specific information about the presence of a group of guerrillas there.

"When the hiding militants were challenged to surrender, they opened automatic gunfire at the surrounding security forces including those of 44 RR and the SOG, critically injuring an army officer and a jawan," he said, adding both the militants were killed in the subsequent gunfight.

The soldier also succumbed to his wounds, while the injured army officer has been shifted to hospital for treatment, said the officer

Reports from Manloo village, 60 km from here, said the house in which the guerrillas had been hiding was completely destroyed in the firefight.

Searches are still on at the site of the gunfight.