SRINAGAR, Dec 23: Suspected Kashmir rebels killed an army officer and injured two soldiers in a gun battle in the Indian-controlled Kashmir on Saturday, police said.

The fighting erupted when the army cordoned off Tilgam village and launched a house-to-house search following a tip that suspected militants were hiding there, said police officer Mohammed Yousuf.

A helicopter evacuated the officer, Col G. S. Sarna, to Srinagar's army hospital where he succumbed, Yousuf said.—AP