Srinagar: Two security personnel, including an Army officer, who was awarded a gallantry medal on the occasion of Republic Day, were today killed in a fierce gunbattle which also left two Hizbul Mujahideen militants dead in Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir.

Colonel M M Rai, commanding officer of 42 Rashtriya Rifles, and a policeman were killed in the gunbattle at Mindora village of Tral, 36 km from here, an Army spokesman said. He said two militants, both locals, were also killed in the operation which left a soldier seriously injured.