Gunbattle between militants, security forces erupt

A gunbattle broke out on Thursday night between a group of five militants and security forces inside a forest in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir, police officials in Jammu said.

A gunbattle broke out on Thursday night between a group of five militants and security forces inside a forest in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir, police officials in Jammu said.

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The encounter erupted when a joint team of army troops, police and CRPF, on a tip-off about the presence five militants, cordoned off an area at Harni forest in Mendhar tehsil at around 1955 hours, and were fired on by the ultras, drawing retaliation from the security forces.

There was no immediate report of any casualty.

Additional security men were sent to lay a siege of the area in a bid to prevent the militants from escaping, police officials said.