SRINIGAR: An Indian army colonel and a police officer were killed Tuesday in a gun battle with rebels in Indian-held Kashmir.

Indian police said two rebels were also killed during the encounter in Hundoora village, 50 kilometres south of the region's main city of Srinagar.

Indian forces had laid seige to a house in the village, acting on information that a rebel was inside, the officer said.

“He [the rebel] opened fire as he found himself trapped. During the ensuing gun battle two rebels and an army colonel were killed,” the top police officer said on condition of anonymity as he was not authorised to speak to media.

A police officer wounded during the firing died in hospital, he said.

The clash occurred shortly after US President Barack Obama ended a three-day visit to India.

Security had been high in Kashmir and other restive areas during the visit and for the Indian Republic Day on Monday.

Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since the two countries won independence from Britain in 1947. Both claim the scenic Himalayan territory in full.

Rebel groups have been fighting Indian forces since 1989 for independence or a merger of the territory with Pakistan. The fighting has left tens of thousands, mostly civilians, dead.

Violence has abated during the last decade but armed encounters between rebels and government forces occur regularly and resentment among the people of Kashmir against Indian rule is deep-rooted.

On January 15 government forces killed five rebels during a gun battle in a forested area a few kilometres from the site of Tuesday's encounter.

India regularly accuses Pakistan of arming and training rebels, but Islamabad denies the allegations.