Agartala, Nov 18 (IANS) A Tripura State Rifles (TSR) trooper was killed and another shot at and injured during a gunfight with separatists from the National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) Wednesday, police here said.

'During a counter-insurgency operation, the outlawed NLFT militants started firing at the security forces, who immediately retaliated. In the ensuing gunbattle, TSR rifleman Somendra Debbarma, 29, and his colleague Subash Debbarma, 26, were seriously injured,' police spokesperson Nepal Das said.

A severely injured Somendra Debbarma died on the way to hospital.

Additional reinforcements have been rushed to the spot in north Tripura's Dhumachara area, about 90 km from here.

In what was the first major terror attack in Tripura this year, eight tribals, including four women, were killed by the NLFT last week.

All were family members of the 10 NLFT militants who had surrendered before security forces a day earlier.

Two more tribal villagers were still missing following that midnight militant attack in north Tripura.

The banned NLFT and another rebel outfit, the All Tripura Tiger Force (ATTF), are fighting for an independent tribal homeland and operates out of Bangladesh.