The militants-Army gunfights in the north Kashmir Shamsbhari mountain range in the frontier Kupwara district claimed six more militants on Tuesday taking the toll to 25.

The Army has so far eliminated 17 militants while it lost eight troopers, including a major.

 "The operation is still continuing in the deeply forested and heavily foliaged forest area," defence spokesman Lt. Col J.S.Brar told rediff.com this evening.

He strongly refuted reports appearing in some sections of the media that helicopter gunships were used , stressing that "the rugged terrain in the area precluded use of any heavy weapons." 

 The spokesman further stated that in this operation, "minimum collateral damage to property was caused." 

He further stated that "the operation was based on sound intelligence inputs as well as human intelligence provided by own sources."

Lt. Col. Brar said that so far huge quantity of arms and ammunition that include 17 assault rifles, 4 under barrel grenade launchers (UBGL), 13 AK magazines, 207 AK ammunition, 19 UBGL grenades, 2 grenades, 2 Global Positioning Systems (GPS), 1 Thuraya radio set, 1 Kenwood radio set, 3 map sheets, 3 matrix sheets, 2 haversacks and Rs 9200 were recovered," he said.