Two militants, security man killed in gunbattle in J-K

The gunfight was initiated by militants when they opened fire from automatic rifles on a joint search party of police and army at village Sajipora-Handwara, 80 kms from here, around 2 PM, they said.

The security forces returned the fire, triggering a gunbattle in which two militants were killed and two security jawans were injured, while a residential house was damaged, the officials said adding one of the injured jawans later succumbed to his injuries.

The identity and group affiliation of the slain militants could not be ascertained as the gunbattle was going on till late evening, they said.

They said the village was cordoned off by security forces early in the day following information about presence of a group of heavily-armed militants. This is the second encounter in Handwara belt within four days. Earlier, two Pakistani militants were killed by the security forces at Shah Nagri forest on Saturday last.

Prior to the Shah Nagri encounter, security forces gunned down six militants including five suspected foreign ultras in the nearby Rafiabad belt, 65 kms from here in Baramulla district on Friday. Two Army personnel were also killed in the encounter which lasted over 24 hours.