Srinagar, April 27: Three militants were killed in a gunfight in south Kashmir’s Kulgam district on Monday, officials said.
The gunfight erupted in Lower Munda, Qazigund, when joint teams of security forces were conducting a cordon and a search operation following specific input about militants’ presence.
“As the forces cordoned a cluster of houses, the search parties came under heavy firing from a house at around 7.45 am. The fire was retaliated, triggering a gunfight,” a police officer in south Kashmir said.
Srinagar-based defence spokesman said three militants were killed in the gunfight and the operation is still in progress.
The identity and the affiliation of the militants could not be ascertained immediately.
This is the second encounter in Kulgam since Sunday evening. A gunfight had erupted soon after militants had attacked a joint patrol party of security forces in Asthal area of Devsar.
While police on Sunday claimed to have killed four militants, the body of only one suspected militant has been retrieved. Police said the search is going on. On Sunday evening, the Army had said that two militants were killed in the Asthal gunfight.
There have been a series of gunfights in south Kashmir in the past three days.
On Friday evening, two unidentified militants were killed in Kulgam district while they were trying to kidnap an off-duty policeman. On Saturday morning, two unidentified militants and their associate were killed in a gunfight in south Kashmir’s Awantipora sub-district.
