SRINAGAR, July 2: Indian troops on Sunday shot dead five militants and lost one of their own soldiers in separate incidents as militants took refuge in a mosque in occupied Kashmir, officials said.

Four militants were killed along the LoC.

“The four were killed in northern Baramulla district during a bloody encounter that began around four in the morning,” said Indian defence ministry spokesman Hemant Joneja.

He said the militants from the Jaish-i-Mohammed were killed after they crossed the Line of Control.

The fifth rebel was killed during a gunbattle with Indian troops in southern Pulwama district on Sunday, a police spokesman said.

In another incident an Indian soldier died and two others were injured when rebels hiding inside a house opened fire on them in Baramulla district.

“The militants, believed to be one or more, later fled into a mosque,” the police spokesman said, adding gunfire between the two sides was continuing.—AFP