Anantnag: Three militants were killed in an encounter with security forces in south Kashmir’s Kulgam district on Monday.
Sources said that the encounter broke out after the militants fired upon a patrolling party of the security forces at Lower Munda in Qazigund area of Kulgam.
The security forces retaliated triggering the gunfight in which three militants got killed.
Defence spokesman Colonel Rajesh Kalia told PTI that three militants have been killed in the joint operation at Lower Munda.
Though officially there was no word about the affiliation of the militants, sources said that all the three belonged to The Resistance Front (TRF), a group affiliated with Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT).
Some sources identified the killed militants as Bilal Ahmad from panzgam pulwama; Aaqib alias Anas from Kakapora (deputy chief TRF) and; Hamza Bhai, chief operational commander TRF.
However, there was no official word about the identity of the slain militants.
Meanwhile, at least five civilians were injured in a blast at the encounter site where three militants were killed in the morning, officials said.
An explosion took place at the encounter site at Lower Munda in the Qazigund area, injuring five civilians who had assembled there, the officials said.
They said a shell left behind during the gunbattle between militants and security forces exploded, injuring the civilians.
Asthal Kulgam encounter: Only one body recovered so far
Srinagar: A day after it claimed that four militants have been killed in an encounter in Kulgam, Jammu and Kashmir Police on Monday said it had found only one body of an associate of militants from the site and is searching for other injured ones.
The encounter had broken out during an operation carried out by Kulgam police, Rashtriya Rifles and CRPF following inputs that militants were planning to abduct and murder police personnel, a police spokesman said.
On Sunday, “at about 2000 hrs one of such patrolling parties of joint forces was attacked by militants numbering four to six in between villages Chehlan and Asthal,” he said.
He said in the exchange of firing that ensued, one army officer received firearm injuries.
The security forces had “confirmed having hit two to four militants” in the exchange of fire that stopped around 2200 hrs, the spokesman said.
He said due to expansive area of search, undulating terrain and total darkness, it was decided to carry out search of the area after first light.
“When search started in the morning, dead body of an unknown terrorist associate along with a pistol and a grenade was recovered. Besides six SIM cards were also recovered from his pocket,” he said.
A trail of blood was found leading out of the search area which proved that apart from the militant associate killed, one or more militants were injured. The search for injured militants continues, he added.
