Five soldiers were killed and another left seriously injured after militants attacked a moving Army truck in the Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir.
Bomb disposal squads and the Special Operations Group (SOG) of the police are now combing the area.
The Indian Army has identified the dead soldiers as Sergeant Mandeep Singh, Lance Corporal Debashish Baswal, Lance Corporal Kulwant Singh, Private Harkrishan Singh and Private Sewak Singh.
The Indian Army issued a statement late on Thursday night in which it divulged details about the militant strike after conducting an preliminary examination.
The statement said that the five dead belonged to the army’s Rashtriya Rifles unit used in counter-terrorist operations, adding that another soldier had been seriously wounded and was undergoing treatment.
“One army vehicle, moving between Bhimber Gali and Poonch in the Rajouri sector was attacked by unidentified terrorists, taking advantage of heavy rains and low visibility in the area. The vehicle burst into flames probably because grenades were used by the terrorists," the Indian Army’s Northern Command said in the statement.
Meanwhile, according to government officials, security forces have launched extensive Cordon and Search Operations (CASOs) in several places near where the ambush took place. The movement of all kinds of vehicles has also been suspended on the national highway in the wake of the attack, officials added.
India's Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has expressed his solidarity with the families of the deceased soldiers.
In a message posted on Twitter, Singh said he was "anguished by the tragedy in Poonch District (J&K)" and that his thoughts were with the bereaved families.
Jammu and Kashmir’s Lieutenant-Governor Manoj Sinha posted on Twitter: "I am deeply anguished by the loss of life of brave Army personnel in a tragic incident at Poonch. Their rich service to the nation will never be forgotten. My thoughts are with the bereaved families.”
The Jammu and Kashmir region has been in the grip of anti-India militancy since the Eighties. Although insurgency has waxed and waned in the Kashmir region, Jammu has remained relatively peaceful. However, the region has recently witnessed a rise in violence which the Indian security establishment believes is part of a plan by Pakistan-based militant groups to escalate militancy there.
On 1 January, seven civilians were killed when militants stormed a village in the same district and carried out executions.