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Four foreign militants, soldier killed in encounter

One soldier and four foreign militants, including an area commander of the Lashkar-e-Toiba, were killed in an encounter in Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir last evening.

A defence ministry spokesperson said that acting on a tip-off about the militants being present at Chamdi Tarar-Palma village in Dehra area of Rajouri district, security personnel cordoned off the area and started a search operation.

He said the militants opened fire with automatic weapons from different directions. The troops fired back. In the ensuing encounter four foreign militants were killed and an army havaldar was injured.

The spokesperson said havaldar Richpal Singh was immediately taken to the military hospital, where he later succumbed to his injuries.

The slain area commander was identified as Abu Laskari, a resident of Lahore, Pakistan. He was allegedly involved in killing of several people in the area, he said.

A large cache of arms and ammunition, including two AK 56 rifles, a pistol, three grenades, a grenade launcher, four magazines and 72 rounds, were recovered from the encounter site.

He said the bodies of all four slain militants are being handed over to the local police.

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