Two soldiers injured in ongoing Shopian gunfight

Two soldiers have been injured as security forces encircle a group of militants in a residential area in south Kashmir's Shopian on Tuesday morning.

Initial reports suggest two Army men, including a junior commissioned officer, received injuries in the first exchange of fire, as the militants are holed up inside a house at Kundalan village, over 60 km away from Srinagar.

"Two to three militants are believed to be trapped at the encounter site," a police official said.

The Army’s 34 Rashtriya Rifles, the police's Special Operations Group (SOG) of the Jammu and Kashmir Police and CRPF gave engaged the militants in a gunfight. 

Locals said the father of an active militant, Zeenat Naikoo from Memender, died of a cardiac arrest after the militant reportedly spoke to his family on the phone. However, the police could not confirm whether Naikoo is trapped or not at the encounter site.

Scores of locals in the area resorted to stone pelting around the place of encounter. Three youth were injured in the clashes and were shifted to hospitals.

2 soldiers injured in ongoing Shopian gunfightThe district administration has ordered to close all schools "as a precautionary measure".