An army officer, a trooper, two cops and five militants were among nine persons killed in the four-day-long fierce encounter in the northern forests of Kupwara district.

"The encounter at Awathkul forests in the jurisdiction of Kralpora police station ended on Thursday evening. The bodies of five militants were retrieved from the encounter site. Arms and ammunition was recovered from the slain militants. The bodies were handed over to the local Auqaf Committee for burial," a police spokesman said.

Jammu and Kashmir police and 18 Grenadiers of the army had jointly surrounded Awathkul forest area Monday afternoon after receiving specific information about the presence of a group of heavily armed militants.

"The hiding militants opened indiscriminate fire at the search parties triggering an encounter," he said.

Police said an army officer, a soldier and two cops were killed in the four-day-long gunfight.

A defence spokesman said, "The area of encounter was mountainous, densely forested, with no habitation and steep cliffs. The terrorists were hiding in caves in the cliffs, which provided excellent cover for them."