Four militants were shot dead by security forces after they managed to sneak from across the Line of Control into Machil sector of Kupwara district in Jammu and Kashmir [Images], a police officer said on Sunday.

The militants were killed in a joint operation by special operations group of local police and troops of Seven Garhwal of the army at Muthal Nar village near the LoC in the wee hours of the day, Senior Superintendent of Police, Kupwara, Vijay Kumar said.

He said the encounter broke out when the police along with army launched a search and cordon operation in the area following specific information about the presence of some militants there.

The identity and group affiliation of the slain militants was being ascertained, Kumar said.

A huge cache of arms and ammunition were recovered from the scene of the encounter, the Kupwara police chief said.      

In another operation, a police spokesman said, security forces recovered three rocket projectile gun rounds, six hand-grenades, two mortar bombs, two IED (improvised explosive device) relay mechanism, three metres of flexible electric wire and an AK magazine with 136 rounds during search operation in Poonch district on Saturday night.

However, no one was arrested during the operation, the spokesman added.