india

Updated: Aug 01, 2014 16:54 IST

At least four militants have been killed in an ongoing operation in north Kashmir's Keran Sector near the Line of Control (LoC).

A contact between militants, who were reportedly exfiltrating into Pakistan-occupied Kashmir on the directions of their handlers across the border, was established on Thursday evening at Sondi Gali near LoC in Kupwara district, 110 km north of Srinagar.

Army sources said the militants opened fired at the security forces, who retaliated. They said four militants were killed. While two were killed on Thursday evening, two more were shot dead on Friday morning.

The search operation is on in the area. The army has not officially confirmed the deaths. Unconfirmed reports suggest that the army has retrieved all the four bodies of the militants. Their identify and affiliation have not been disclosed by the army so far.

Last year, Keran Sector hit the headlines when a group of militants engaged security forces for a month in September.