Srinagar, May 24 (IANS): The death toll in an ongoing gun battle in Jammu and Kashmir between security forces and the guerrillas rose to five Friday after an injured soldier succumbed to his injuries.
The Rashtriya Rifles and police were laying a cordon in Bachoo village in Pulwama district, 35 km from here, when militants opened fire, an army spokesman told IANS.
"Three soldiers were killed in the fire," Lt Col Ankur Vasisht of the Srinagar-based 15 Corps said. The security forces in turn shot dead one of the guerrillas.
"A militant, Burhan of Hizbul Mujahideen, is believed to have been killed," the officer said.
"But we are yet to recover his body as the gunfight is still on. A fourth soldier who was injured has succumbed to injuries in hospital," said the officer.
The attack on security forces in Jammu and Kashmir comes a day after police killed Hilal Molvi, a commander of the Lashkar-e-Taiba group, in Srinagar.