Seven BSF personnel, including two officers, were killed in an overnight gunbattle with militants in Jammu and Kashmir, police said Thursday. Two other guards were wounded in the clash at Achibal village, 50 km north of Srinagar. A police spokesman said the gunbattle erupted when security forces entered Achibal after being tipped off about the presence of heavily armed militants in the area.
An assistant commandant of the BSF was killed and two personnel were wounded when the militants opened fire, the spokesman said.
In the ensuing gunbattle, six more BSF soldiers, including an inspector, were killed, he said. Security reinforcements were rushed in and the village was completely sealed off to prevent the militants' escape, and residents were told to stay indoors.
It was unclear whether the militants suffered any casualties, the spokesman said.
"Security forces are due to launch house-to-house searches this morning," a resident said. Eleven Army soldiers and nine militants died near the highway township of Surankote, 540 km south of Srinagar, after a two-day encounter that ended Wednesday. Bureau Report