Three terrorists holed up in a mosque were killed in an overnight gun battle with security forces in Anantnag district of Jammu and Kashmir, ending a 14-hour standoff.

The terrorists took shelter in the mosque in village Bhan, some 70 km from Srinagar, when security forces launched a cordon-and-search operation on Saturday, a defence spokesman said.

One of the terrorists was killed on Saturday night, he said, adding the remaining two were killed early next day.

The mosque suffered no damage, the spokesman said.

The bodies, yet to be identified, were recovered on Sunday morning.

Two Kalashnikov rifles, a pistol and some ammunition were recovered from the slain terrorists, the spokesman said.