An army patrol stepped on a landmine near the LoC, official sources said.

Srinagar:

Two soldiers have been killed and three others were injured in a mine blast near the Line of Control in the Nowshera-Sunderbani sector in Jammu and Kashmir, sources said on Saturday.

Officials sources said an officer and a soldier were killed in action after an army patrol stepped on a landmine near the LoC.

Those injured have been shifted to an army hospital where the condition of two is said to be critical.

“There have been two fatal casualties. Three others are injured,” a senior police officer said.

News agency PTI quoted officials saying that the area where the explosion took place is dotted with landmines planted by the army as part of the counter-infiltration arrangement.

The Nowshera sector comes under the Rajouri district which is part of the Pirpanjal region in Jammu where an army operation is underway for the last three weeks.

Nine soldiers including two officers have been killed without any success against terrorists believed to be hiding in the forests of Poonch.

This is the longest counter-terror operation in the region in the last 18 years.