Militant killed in J-K encounter; 7 including civilians wounded in grenade blast

A militant was killed in an ongoing encounter with the security forces in north Kashmir's Uri area, near the Line of Control (LoC) on Sunday morning, a police spokesperson said.In another incident, five civilians and two security personnel were injured when militants lobbed a grenade at Sopore Chowk in the state's Baramulla district on Sunday morning.

The gun battle in Uri, also in Baramulla district, ensued when army on Saturday night spotted a suspicious movement of militants in the Kalgai area and laid a cordon.Sources said at least three militants were holed up in the area. Many villagers, who were trapped in the cordon, were safely evacuated, a senior police officer said.

An army official said, "Terrorists have been cordoned, and operations are in progress."

Further details are awaited.The border town of Uri had made headlines in September last year when four militants had entered an army camp and killed 19 soldiers, before being gunned down.A Jammu and Kashmir Police and a CRPF jawans were injured in the grenade explosion.Five civilians were also injured in the incident, the IANS reported.