Srinagar, October 25
Four Army jawans were killed and 10 others, including six soldiers, were wounded when militants laid an ambush and opened fire on an Army convoy near the Banihal tunnel today, a report from Jammu said.

As the convoy crossed the tunnel, the militants opened indiscriminate fire in which two soldiers were killed on the spot. Two more jawans later succumbed to their injuries. Three drivers of the state Roadways Transport Corporation were also injured.

The troops came down from buses and retaliated. The encounter lasted for over two hours with a result traffic on the Srinagar-Jammu highway was suspended.

A soldier was killed and eight others, including a Captain, were injured in a powerful mine blast at Arsalkhan in Bandipora of north Kashmir today.

Elsewhere in the state, eight militants and three security force personnel were among 13 killed during the past 24 hours.

Official sources said the militants detonated a powerful improvised explosive device near Arsalkhan when an Army vehicle reached there.

The vehicle was blown to pieces, resulting in the death of a soldier on the spot and injuries to eight others.

The injured have been admitted to hospital where the condition of three of them is stated to be critical.

Two more security personnel were injured in yet another blast at Batakote in the same district this morning. Later, two unexploded mines fitted with gas cyclinders were detected and defused in the same area.

People at Arsalkhan took to the streets in protest against the alleged atrocities by the security forces. They claimed that the forces set on fire some houses after the blast.

Mr Abdul Masjid Akhnoon, brother of NC MLA Mohammad Syed Akhnoon, who was injured by the militants last week, died in hospital early this morning.

Mohammad Irshad was killed on the spot and his brother Mohammad Zafer sustained injuries when an explosive device went off at Kakora.

An official spokesman said the security forces killed three militants at Wadipora Kupwara while two LeT activists were gunned down at Khore Shirabab Pattan last night.

An encounter took place between the militants and the security forces at Marwah in Doda today in which two militants were killed while a girl, Jameela, died in a shootout at Mendhar.

The militants shot a police informer while an SPO died in Kupwara after he slipped from a hill.

A militant was killed in an encounter with the security forces at Zaloora Handwara today.

The BSF apprehended three top militants of Tehreek-ul-Mujahideen yesterday.

The recoveries included a rifle grenade, an AK 47 magazine with 30 rounds, a wireless set, 132 rounds of AK ammunition and 16 rounds of Chinese pistol ammunition.

Three Army jawans were injured, one of them seriously, when their convoy was ambushed in Kupwara district this morning. The convoy was on way from Kalaroos to Drogmulla in Kupwara district.