Two senior Army personnel are believed to be trapped in a house with militants at Handwara in Kashmir, following an encounter that was on for eight hours as of late Saturday night. (Representational Image)

TWO senior Army personnel, including a Colonel-rank officer and a Major, are believed to be trapped in a house with militants at Handwara in Kashmir, following an encounter that was on for eight hours as of late Saturday night.

There was no statement from the Army or police on the officers “stuck inside”.

A senior officer told The Sunday Express that apart from the two Army officers, a J&K Police officer and another security personnel had “got stuck in the same room” as the militants, two of whom are suspected to be Pakistanis.

“We have lost touch with the team,” he said.

The gunfight started around 3.30 pm on Saturday in Chanjumullah area of Handwara, falling in Kupwara district of North Kashmir.

A senior police officer said the militants were found hiding in a cowhshed.

The Army also announced Saturday morning that two of the three Armymen injured in cross-border shelling in Uri on Friday had succumbed to their injuries.

In another incident, two militants were killed in a gunbattle in Dangerpora area of South Kashmir’s Pulwama Saturday.

The incident led to stone-pelting by local residents.

CRPF officers said that while the troops were leaving, a grenade was lobbed at them, leaving one personnel with minor injuries.