Srinagar: Three militants who had taken shelter in a village mosque was today (Jan 31, 2004) killed by Army troops after nearly seven-hour-long siege of the shrine in Jammu and Kashmir's Badgam district, an Army spokesman said.

The militants entered the mosque at Danespora, about 35 km from Srinagar, this afternoon when a search party of 34 Rashtriya Rifles, on information about the presence of some ultras in a house, launched an operation to flush them out, he said.

Finding themselves trapped, the ultras opened fire on the search party from inside the mosque and in a tactical operation the troops eliminated all the three militants holed up there, the spokesman said.

He said the mosque suffered no damage in the operation which was carried out by the troops with utmost restrain and caution keeping in mind the sanctity of the mosque.

Troops also advised militants to surrender during the operation but they ignored the repeated warnings and continued the fire, the spokesman said.

The bodies of the militants have been removed and a large quantity of arms and ammunition was recovered from them, he said, adding identity of the ultras and their group affiliation was being ascertained.