Five militants and an army trooper were killed and four others wounded in an encounter in north Kashmir's Kupwara district on Friday night.
 
The gunfight erupted early on Friday after troops of counter insurgency Rashtriya Rifles and the police jointly surrounded a house, acting on a specific tip-off about the presence of a group of militant commanders inside it.
 
"The operation is over. We have recovered the bodies of the militants, four of whom were top commanders of the Lashkar-e-Tayiba, while the fifth was a battalion commander of militant outfit Jaish-e Mohammad," defence spokesman Lieutenant Colonel J S Brar said.
 
At the beginning of the operation, a housewife had been taken hostage by the militants. She was later rescued.
 
One army trooper was killed and four others were injured in the encounter, he said
 
"With the elimination of the top commanders, the LeT has suffered a serious setback in north Kashmir," said the spokesperson.
 
The house in which the militants were holed up was completely destroyed in the operation. 

Image: Army Personnel surround a house in Kupwara with five militants inside | Photograph: Umar Ganie