Five soldiers of the Indian Army were killed in a gunfight with suspected militants during an operation in Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch district on Monday morning.

In an official statement released in the afternoon, the Army said that the gunbattle was still underway. It began during a “cordon-and-search operation in villages close to DKG [Dehra ki Gali] in Surankote jurisdiction” of Poonch district.

“The critically injured 01x JCO [junior commissioned officer] and 04 x jawans were evacuated to nearest medical facility but succumbed to their injuries,” the Army statement said.

The area where the gunfight took place is close to the Rajouri-Poonch border near Dehra Ki Gali, Greater Kashmir reported, citing an official. Additional troops of the Army and the police have been deployed.

More details awaited.