Edited by Shuchi Shukla

Two soldiers including an Army Major were killed when terrorists opened fire on a search party of security forces this morning in south Kashmir’s Shopian district, police said. Another jawan was also injured in the gunfight.

A search operation was launched by Army in Zaipora area of Shopian district on Wednesday night after they received intelligence inputs about the presence of terrorists in the vicinity, a senior cop said.

During the search operation, the terrorists fired upon the party in which three armymen were injured. The injured were rushed to the Army hospital in Srinagar, where two of them, including the major, died of their injuries, police said.

Search operation is still on, he said.

In a separate incident, two terrorists were killed in an encounter this morning in Gopalpora village in Kulgam district. The two were involved in an attack on a bank cash van in May in which five policemen and two bank guards were killed.

The security forces have recovered two weapons from the site of the encounter, the official said.