Jammu, Oct 14 (IANS) Two Pakistani militants and an Indian soldier were killed in a firefight in Jammu and Kashmir’s Rajouri district near the international border Tuesday afternoon, an army spokesman said. Army troops laid a cordon around the mountainous forest of Sanjoit, about 180 km northwest of Jammu, following a tip-off about the presence of some militants in the area, the spokesman said.

The troops came under fire from the hiding militants as they were zeroing in on the hideout, he said.

“Soldiers returned the fire and the exchange went on for over three hours in which two militants and an army soldier were killed,” the spokesman said.

He said that both militants belonged to the Lashkar-e-Toiba group and were Pakistani nationals.

“We recovered a weapon from Hujifa Shah, one of the militants killed, He had snatched it from a soldier in Shahdhara area of Rajouri district in July,” the spokesman said.