Soldier, two militants killed in Kashmir gunfight

Srinagar, Dec 4 (IANS) Two militants and a soldier were killed and another soldier injured in a gunfight that erupted on Monday between the security forces and militants holed up in a house in Jammu and Kashmir's Kulgam district, officials said.

Two terrorists were killed and a soldier killed in the gunfight, said Defence Ministry spokesman Colonel Rajesh Kalia.

According to a police official, the gunfight broke out when militants fired at an army patrol on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway in Qazigund area of Kulgam, injuring two soldiers.

After the attack, the militants, said to be two in number, entered a private house which was surrounded immediately by the security forces.

"When the militants were challenged, they fired at the security forces, triggering a gunfight which continued for nearly four hours. Two militants have been killed, but the body of only one, who was a local, has been recovered," police said.

The house in which the militants were hiding was fully destroyed during the gunfight.

Traffic on the Jammu-Srinagar highway remained suspended because of the gunfight. Train service between the Kashmir Valley and Bannihal town in Jammu region was also disrupted.

Meanwhile, Internet services were also suspended in south Kashmir immediately after the gunfight started.