Srinagar: Though no fresh contact was established with the militants, a massive search operation continued in the dense woods near Line of Control (LoC) in Gurez sector of Bandipora district in north Kashmir, where four soldiers, including a Major, were martyred and two militants were killed in an encounter on Tuesday.

With the first light on Thursday morning, troops resumed search operation in the forest area near LoC, where a group of militants sneaked into this side from Pakistan Administered Kashmir (PaK) in the wee hours of Tuesday under the cover of darkness.

Troops from nearby camps have also joined the operation against the militants, they said adding the forward movement of troops was being suspended in the night due to darkness to avoid any casuality. But with first light operation is being resumed from all sides against the militants, they added and said so far no fresh contact was established.

Two militants were killed and four soldiers laid down their lives in the encounter after troops challenged infiltrators on Tuesday, they said.

Troops guarding the LoC are already on high alert to foil any infiltration attempt from POK, where a large number of trained militants are waiting in launch pads to sneak into this side before the higher reaches are closed due to snowfall.

According to official report there were 133 infiltration attempts from across the border. It said 69 militants managed to sneak into this side from across the border till June this year while 14 militants were killed .

However, the report said there were 406 infiltration attempts from across the border in 2017 during which 123 militants could enter this side.