Five Indian soldiers have been killed and several wounded during what the army said was an operation against armed groups in Kashmir.
Indian defence forces have launched various operations in the Rajouri sector of the Himalayan region after unidentified shooters last month opened fire at an Indian army vehicle, killing at least five soldiers.
In a statement, the army said a search team on Friday encountered a group of fighters trapped in an area that was “thickly vegetated with rocky and steep cliffs”.
“The terrorists triggered an explosive device in retaliation,” the statement said.
Two soldiers died in the attack and another three succumbed to their injuries later in the day, it added.
Kashmir is claimed in full but ruled in part by nuclear-armed neighbours India and Pakistan.
Kashmir, claimed in full by India and Pakistan but ruled in parts by the two neighbours, has been the site of a bloody armed rebellion against New Delhi since the 1990s.
New Delhi has struggled for decades to dampen secessionist sentiments in what had been its only Muslim-majority state.
Reasserting New Delhi’s control in August 2019, Prime Minister Narendra Modi abolished Article 370 of the constitution, ending the region’s autonomy and removing its statehood by splitting Indian-administered Kashmir into the two federal territories of Jammu and Kashmir as well as Ladakh.
