Kashmir encounter: 2 soldiers killed, 3 injured in ongoing Shopian gunfight

Unconfirmed reports said 2 militants have been killed but there has been no official confirmation

Two soldiers have been killed and three injured in the on-going gunfight in South Kashmir's Shopian district. However, there is no confirmation about the number of militants killed in the operation.

One army soldier was killed and four others injured on Saturday as a fierce gunfight raged in Awneera village of Shopian district.

The injured soldiers were shifted to army's base hospital in Badami Bagh area of Srinagar city.

"One of the injured soldiers succumbed in the hospital today", police said on Sunday.

After receiving intelligence inputs that a group of two to three militants were hiding in the village, security forces including Rashtriya Rifles, state police and the CRPF surrounded the area on Saturday.

As the security forces surrounded the hiding militants, they were fired upon, triggering the gunfight, police said.

Unconfirmed reports said two militants had been killed during the gunfight, but there has been no official confirmation of this so far.

Reports said that the youth clashed with the security forces in Awneera to break the cordon around the village on Saturday.

Seven civilians had sustained pellet injuries during clashes.

Police also denied rumours that a mosque was damaged during the gunfight between the security forces and the militants.