TWO suspected militants have been killed in a gunfight with government forces in Indian-controlled Kashmir, officials said today, while assailants killed two members of a government-sponsored militia elsewhere in the disputed region.

Kashmir, divided between India and Pakistan but claimed by both, has experienced an increase in violence in recent weeks.

The Indian military said soldiers and police had raided a village near the north-western town of  Sopore on Thursday night following a tip-off that a group of militants was present.