Two army troopers and a terrorist were killed on the third day of the continuing operation in the forest area of Maidanpora in north Kashmir Kupwara district on Monday.

A police spokesman said two troopers identified as Naik Vipin Thakur and Kamaljit Singh both of 9-Para Regiment who were critically wounded during the fierce gunfight with hiding terrorists, succumbed to their injuries while being shifted to the army's base hospital in Srinagar [Images].

"The operation was launched in the forest area on specific inputs about presence of militants there," the spokesman said. "As the security forces were busy combing the area, the hiding militants opened fire at them. The fire was returned, triggering a gunfight."

 He said so far one terrorist of the Lashkar-e-Tayiba [Images] has been killed in this operation.

Last month 17 militants and eight army troopers were killed in a five day long operation in the Shamsbhari mountain range of the same district. Security forces have been conducting searches in the forest areas to flush out any remnants.