SRINAGAR, Feb 24: Two militants were killed after attacking held Kashmir's administrative headquarters late Thursday, ending a bloody siege which trapped 250 people and saw the deaths of five others.

"Both of the militants who had stormed the complex have been shot dead," said Border Security Force (BSF) spokesman Neeraj Kumar. "The firing has ended but the operation is not yet over," he told AFP, adding that security forces were searching the heavily fortified complex to ensure there were no other rebels.

K. Srinivasan, deputy inspector general of the BSF who headed the operation, said three policemen and two civilians had also been killed in the gunfire. The raid occurred while Srinagar's top administrator was in a meeting with two senior security force officers.

All three were brought out safely, but some 250 government workers and members of the public trapped inside the multi-building complex had to wait for armoured military trucks to take them out amid the rattle of heavy gunfire, officials said. -AFP