Five unidentified militants were killed as army foiled an infiltration bid along the Line of Control (LoC) in Tanghdar sector of north Kashmir’s Kupwara district on Saturday.

Defence spokesman Col Rajesh Kalia said that an infiltration bid was foiled in Tanghdar sector of Kupwara along the LoC in which four militants were killed. “The operation is in progress," he said.

Sources said the gunfight broke out after the army launched a cordon and search operation in Tandghdar, 185 km from here, early morning following information about infiltration attempt of heavily armed group of militants.

“The trapped militants fired on the search party which was retaliated by the security forces. In the ongoing gun battle, five unidentified militants have been killed so far,” they said and added the encounter was going on.

It was a major infiltration bid in which heavily-armed militants had sneaked into this side (LoC) and were planning to target the army installations, source said. The encounter took place at a time when the snow has started melting from the mountains and ridges of north Kashmir’s Kupwara district.