Four Jaish militants, one policeman and an Army trooper were Tuesday killed during a gun battle that broke out between the militants and the government forces in Laam Aripal village of Tral area in South Kashmir’s Pulwama district, the police said.

The police said four Jaish militants include top Jaish commander, Omar Khalid and his accomplices Ashfaq Ahmad Khan, Yasir, Abid Maqbool were among the killed jaish militants.

Khalid replaced Mufti Waqas as jaish commander after the later was killed during an encounter last month.  Yasir was the area commander of Tral, police said while  Abid had joined the Jaish outfit a month and a half ago.

The police said the army’s counter insurgency unity of 48 RR, CRPF  and police were involved in the gun battle with trapped militants.

“The operation started at around 6:30 and concluded at around 05:00 pm,” the police said, adding that the bodies of the militants have been retrieved.

Earlier, Police said that a cop identified as Latif Gojri and an Army trooper as Ajay Kumar were also killed in the encounter.

“We pay out tribute to policeman Latif Gojri whom we lost today at Tral. We stand by with the family of our martyr who made supreme sacrifice in the line of duty,” Kashmir zone police tweeted