Three troopers and a militant were killed in a north Kashmir gunfight that has been continuing for over 24 hours.
Police said troops of 29 Rashtriya Rifles and the special operations group of Jammu and Kashmir police had surrounded a house in Saidpora village, 43 km from Srinagar in Baramulla district on Tuesday evening on specific information about the presence of militants there.
As the security forces challenged the holed up militants, they started indiscriminately firing at the surrounding RR troops and also hurled grenades.
"Three troopers who were critically injured yesterday in the fierce encounter and had been removed to the army's base hospital in Srinagar, succumbed to their injuries today," a senior police officer said in Srinagar.
"So far the body of one militant has been recovered, but the gunfight is still on," the officer said.
RR reinforcements were rushed to the area on Wednesday.
"Intermittent firing is still continuing, and we have reports about the presence of two more militants inside the village. Troops are busy searching the other houses in the vicinity of the encounter site," he added.
Senior army and police officials were supervising the operation.