OCCUPIED SRINAGAR: Freedom fighters shot dead five soldiers in Illegally Indian-Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) on Monday, the army said, stoking tensions in the restive territory following a string of civilian murders. Separately two suspected freedom fighters were martyred in different incidents, authorities said.

Colonel Devendar Anand told AFP that one officer and four soldiers "were killed during a search operation probably by infiltrators" in a mountain pass near the Line of Control (LoC). "The operation is ongoing," he added.

Indian troops martyr two more Kashmiri youth

The shootings were the deadliest attack on military forces in the area since a ceasefire along the LoC announced in February.