Earlier, Anand had said that the five soldiers, including the JCO suffered critical injuries after hiding militants opened fire at the surrounding troops.

The Defence PRO, Jammu said that the five had been rushed to the nearest medical facility, where they succumbed to injuries.

The encounter with the militants is still underway and further details are awaited.

This comes just days after two government school teachers, including a woman, were shot dead inside a government school by militants in Srinagar. Befoe that incident, three people, including a famous Kashmiri business person, were killed by suspected militants in a series of attacks within two hours. According to The Hindu, seven civilians have been killed in J&K in the last 15 days.

Earlier in August, three Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terrorists had been killed in an encounter by the security forces in Jammu and Kashmir’s Tral district.

(With inputs from ANI, The Hindu and IANS.)