Three foreign militants, one of them a self-styled Divisional Commander of Jaish-e-Mohammad, were killed and two soldiers wounded in a fierce gunbattle in Sopore area in north Kashmir's Baramulla district today.

Srinagar: Three foreign militants, one of them a self-styled Divisional Commander of Jaish-e-Mohammad, were killed and two soldiers wounded in a fierce gunbattle in Sopore area in north Kashmir's Baramulla district today.

The gunfight erupted in Dooru village, 55-km from here, after the security forces launched an operation to flush out militants hiding there, police said.

Acting on intelligence inputs about presence of three to five militants in the village, the security forces cordoned off the area.

As the jawans zeroed in on their target, the ultras hiding in the house fired at them and in the ensuing exchange of fire, three militants were killed, police said.

An army spokesman said two soldiers were also wounded in the operation. The slain militants were all foreigners and included a self-styled Divisional Commander of Jaish Abu Hassan who took over reins of the outfit after eliimination of Qari Yasir last year, police said.

The other two militants were identified as Muzammil alias Farooq and Rizwan, they said, adding three AK 47 rifles were recovered from the scene. The search operation was still on in the village, police said.

PTI