A major and a soldier of the Rashtriya Rifles were killed in an encounter with separatist militants near Srinagar on Monday.

A senior police officer told rediff.com, "Troops of 34 Rashtriya Rifles cordoned off the Zandpaul village in Baramulla district, about 35 km from Srinagar, learning that a group of three militants were hiding in the village."

He said that the exchange of fire had now stopped and the troops were carrying out house-to-house searches to locate the militants.

Militants had earlier attacked the party, triggering a fierce gun-battle between the two sides, official sources said.

With PTI inputs

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