Three militants were killed in a fierce gunfight with Indian army near Line of Control (LoC), dividing Kashmir, officials said Monday.

　　The gunfight according to Indian army officials broke out in forest area at Kalghe village of frontier Uri town, about 117 km northwest of Srinagar city, the summer capital of Indian-controlled Kashmir.

　　"Three militants were killed in a fierce gunfight with army at Kalghe of Uri," a police spokesman said. "The gunfight that started early on Sunday morning ended during the night."

　　The operation in the area was launched following specific information about presence of militants in the area, police said.

　　The identity of slain militants was being ascertained, a police official said.

　　According to police spokesman three assault rifles and some ammunition was recovered from the gunfight site.

　　A local media report said a trooper and four civilians were also wounded, and two residential houses suffered damage during the gunfight.

　　Indian army officials and police said the militants seem to have recently infiltrated in the area with the aim to carry out a major attack.

　　"We have averted a major tragedy. The way a suicide attack was carried out on the army base last year, the group of militants killed in Uri was planning a similar strike," region's Police Chief Shesh Paul Vaid told media in Srinagar.

　　A separatist movement and guerilla war challenging New Delhi's rule is going on in Indian-controlled Kashmir since 1989. Gunfights between militants and Indian troops take place intermittently across the region.