Five army soldiers were killed and three wounded  in a militant ambush in Awantipura area on the strategic Srinagar-Jammu national highway on Saturday morning.

Deputy Inspector General of Police (South Kashmir range) Sheikh Owais Ahmad told rediff.com that militants hurled two grenades followed by heavy firing from automatic weapons on the passing army convoy. The convoy was on its way to Jammu from Srinagar.

Three army personnel, belonging to the 61 Rashtriya Rifles, were killed on the spot while five other troopers were injured.

Two of the soldiers succumbed to their injuries in the hospital where they had been admitted. Another soldier was being operated upon when reports last came in.

The area has been cordoned off. 

Police sources said reinforcements had been rushed to the spot where intermittent firing was on between the security forces and the militants, holed up in a house.

Meanwhile, traffic on both sides of the Jammu-Srinagar national highway had been stopped in the wake of the incident..

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.