SRINAGAR: Five persons, including four army jawans, were killed on Saturday on Saturday in a fierce encounter in Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir.

One Lashkar-e-Toiba militant was also killed in the encounter, defence sources said.

Army had cordoned off village Neldura in Shopian area, 65 kms from here, on Friday night and started search operations in the wee hours on Saturday.

The security forces came under fire from militants at around 5am in which two jawans were killed on the spot while two others sustained serious injuries, they said.

In the ensuing gunbattle, one LeT militant was shot dead, they said.

The injured jawans were evacuated to army base hospital here where they succumbed to their injuries, they added.