Officials say four army soldiers have been killed and one another wounded in a gunbattle with militants fighting against Indian rule in disputed Kashmir.
Security officials say the fighting erupted after government forces surrounded a village in the southern Pulwama area on a tip that militants were hiding there.
Police said as troops began conducting searches they came under heavy gunfire, leading to fatalities.
The deaths come after a local Kashmiri militant rammed an explosive-laden van into a convoy bus on Thursday, killing at least 40 soldiers in the worst attack against Indian government forces in Kashmir’s history.
