Five persons, including four soldiers and a militant, were killed in a fierce gunbattle early on Tuesday morning in Poonch district, officials said.

On specific information, troops of 25 Rashtriya Rifles and 16 Rashtriya Rifles cordoned off Chamraid-Andarwali Doke in Surankote tehsil of the district to track down a group of militants belonging to Lashkar-e-Tayiba at around 0200 IST on Tuesday, they told PTI.

During the search operation, a fierce gunbattle ensued between the holed up militants and security forces in which four soldiers, including a JCO, and a militant were killed, officials said.

The operation is on as militants are still holed up in the area, they said adding, that additional troops have been rushed in there.