SRINAGAR, Aug 5: Nine policemen were killed and eight injured in a raid by militants on their camp in the heart of Srinagar, police said on Thursday.

The policemen were killed during fierce fighting through the night that ended just after 8am (0230 GMT) on Thursday when security forces gunned down a militant who had stormed the camp in the Raj Bagh locality about 12 hours earlier, Kashmir's police chief Gopal Sharma said.

Four of the injured policemen were in critical condition, doctors said. Shashi Nayak, a cook at the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) camp, was rescued along with a rifleman by troops and police from the second floor of a concrete building early morning.

Besides, two Indian army soldiers were killed and another injured in an ambush by freedom fighters in the Anantnag district on Thursday, police said. Hizbul Mujahideen claimed responsibility in calls to reporters. -AFP