By IANS,
Srinagar : Two soldiers and two guerrillas were killed in a three-day long gunfight that ended Tuesday in a Kashmir forest area, police said.
The army and Special Operations Group (SOG) of the Jammu and Kashmir police launched an operation in Maidanpora forest, around 110 km from here, in the frontier Kupwara district Sunday.
The security forces came under a heavy fire from the hiding militants, which was retaliated. The gunfight continued till Tuesday in which two armymen and two guerrillas were killed, a police officer said.
The soldiers died Monday after sustaining bullet injuries while the two militants were gunned down Tuesday.
The operation “has ended with the elimination of the two hiding militants”, the police officer said.
Violence in the Kashmir Valley, particularly in its north close to the border with Pakistan, has escalated ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.
Last month, the army intercepted a group of infiltrators in the Shamsbari mountain range of the district. At least 17 guerrillas and eight army troopers were killed in the six-day-long battle in the mountain range.
State police chief Kuldeep Khuda has said Taliban guerrillas have moved closer to the border and may try to disrupt the Lok Sabha polls in the state.