SRINAGAR: Indian troops Sunday shot dead two senior commanders of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militant group in Indian-administered Kashmir during two separate gunbattles, police said.

Fahadullah, a Pakistani national, was killed during a fierce clash in northern Kupwara district, bordering Pakistan-administered Kashmir.

Fahadullah was serving as LeT's “divisional commander” for north Kashmir and his death is a “big setback” to the group, senior police officer Muneer Khan told reporters.

Police said government forces also shot dead another “senior commander” of LeT in southern Poonch district during a clash on Sunday.The slain commander was identified as Abu Usman, police said.

More than 47,000 people have been killed, according to an official count, since an insurgency erupted in 1989 against Indian rule in the region.