Wednesday's strike came as Kashmir continued to remain in the throes of a civilian unrest since June 11 that has so far claimed 112 lives and left hundreds others wounded, some crippled for life.

A senior Indian paramilitary officer said militants fired shots from pistols at two troopers from a close range resulting in the death on the spot of a soldier while another who was hit in the head was taken to hospital for treatment where he succumbed.

He said the two troopers were part of a patrol party when militants fired at them from a close range in main market in Pattan town on the Srinagar Muzaffarabad highway.

"The area was cordoned for searches which, however, drew a blank," Prabhakar Tripathi, a spokesman of the CRPF, said.

He said militants escaped along with the weapons of the two slain troopers.

This is the first militant hit-and-run strike in Pattan town, 30 kms from capital Srinagar. The over five month long pro-independence unrest was triggered in the aftermath of the killing of a 17-year old student in capital Srinagar.

The continuing unrest saw a sharp decline in the militancy related incidents in Kashmir.