Jammu, Aug 27 (IANS) Security forces rescued three children and a woman, who were held hostage during a gunbattle in which three civilians, an army officer and a guerrilla were killed Wednesday in this winter capital of Jammu and Kashmir.

The militants, holed up in a house in Chinore on the outskirts of this city, took six civilians hostage Wednesday morning. The police said they were trying to rescue the two remaining hostages before launching an assault on the guerrillas.