Srinagar, April 6 (IANS) Two Indian Army soldiers were killed in a gunfight with guerrillas in a forest area in Kashmir Monday, the state police said.
The army and Special Operations Group (SOG) of the Jammu and Kashmir police launched a search operation in Maidanpora forest, around 120 km from here, in the frontier Kupwara district Saturday.
The security forces came under a heavy fire from the hiding militants, which was retaliated. The gunfight continues, in which two armymen were injured.
'(The) encounter is on and two army troopers identified as Naik Vipin Thakur and Kamaljit Singh, who were critically wounded, succumbed to their injuries while being shifted to an army base hospital in Srinagar,' a defence spokesman said.
Violence in the Kashmir Valley, particularly in its north close to the border with Pakistan, has escalated ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.
Last month, the army intercepted a group of infiltrators in the Shamsbhari mountain range of the district. At least 17 guerrillas and eight army troopers were killed in the six-day long battle in the mountain range.
State police chief Kuldeep Khuda has said Taliban guerrillas have moved closer to the border and may try to disrupt the Lok Sabha polls in the state.
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