A three-day battle between government soldiers and suspected Islamic rebels in a village in Indian-controlled Kashmir ended Monday, police and army officials said. Two senior leaders of the Lashkar-e-Taiba militant group, one senior army officer and one civilian were killed in the fighting, local police official Viplav Kumar said. The fighting in Tilgam, 45 kilometres north of Srinagar, started on Saturday when the army cordoned off the village following a tip that rebels were present in the area. Nearly 400 people fled their homes in the village as the fighting raged. “The gunbattle has stopped but we are still searching the area,” said Kumar, adding that the two killed militants were identified as commander Abu Tahir and his deputy, Abu Omair. There was no independent verification of the claim.