OCCUPIED SRINAGAR: Suspected Freedom fighters killed an Indian army officer and a trooper during a manhunt in Illegally Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), where 22 people have died in spiralling violence in the past two weeks, officials said Friday.

The soldiers were chasing fighters in a forested area in southern IIOJK when a gun battle erupted late Thursday, Colonel Devendar Anand told AFP.

The hunt in the Mendhar region had been intensified since five soldiers were killed nearby three days earlier.

Eight suspected rebels have also been killed in battles and military raids in the past two weeks, police said. More than 120 have been killed this year.