A security personnel rescues a woman from the attack site in Srinagar on Thursday. (PTI)

Srinagar, Feb. 24: As the local administration was battling snow in south Kashmir villages, a suicide squad struck at the provincial administrative headquarters in the heart of summer capital Srinagar this afternoon.

Seven persons ? two Central Reserve Police Force jawans, a head constable of the state security wing, two civilians and two militants ? were killed in the gunbattle that ended in the evening.

Two critically wounded policemen, including an assistant sub-inspector of the security wing, are being treated at SMHS Hospital here.

A senior police officer said two fidayeen forced their entry into the heavily guarded complex after hurling hand grenades and firing from automatics, killing the two CRPF jawans and the head constable manning the main entrance. A civilian also died in the initial attack, police said.

Hundreds of employees, including Srinagar district magistrate Shalendra Kumar, were trapped for nearly three hours inside the complex, which houses the offices of the Kashmir divisional commissioner and the district magistrate.

Kashmir divisional commissioner Khursheed Ahmad Ganai and Kashmir zone police chief Javed Mukhdoomi had left Srinagar early this morning and were in Waltingoo village supervising rescue and relief operation.

The state is facing a crisis following heavy snowfall over the past few weeks. Several parts of south Kashmir lie buried in snow and essential commodities are not available there. Avalanches claimed 225 lives last week.

Police sources said they rescued 400 civilians and employees trapped in the administrative headquarters, which is located on the banks of Jhelum near the heavily guarded Assembly building.

?Our first priority was to rescue the hundreds of trapped employees including the local DM and other officials,? said the Srinagar district police chief, Syed Ahmad Syed. The district magistrate was among those rescued.

Hundreds of people visit the office daily for administrative and revenue work.

?We were entering the main gate when we heard gunfire. First we thought the noise was of firecrackers but when we found the injured securitymen some distance away from us, we ran inside for cover. We were holed up for two hours before being able to move out,? said Mohammad Sultan, a state government employee.