A joint operation of security forces was launched in Kishtwar after the Kashmir Tigers kidnapped and killed two civilians on Thursday.

Two suspected militants and two members of a government-sponsored militia have been killed in two separate incidents in Indian-controlled Kashmir.

Indian troops on Sunday were battling with gunmen in Kashmir with one suspected rebel killed, the army said, the latest violence in the long-running insurgency in the disputed Muslim-majority territory.

Indian security forces killed two militants in a firefight in Sopore, North Kashmir, after militants killed two village defence guards in Kishtwar. The gun battle erupted Thursday night as soldiers and police searched for militants.