SRINAGAR: Five militants of Lashkar-e-Toiba were killed in an ongoing gunfight with security forces in south Kashmir’s Shopian district.
A police official said a joint party of police, CRPF and army men laid siege around Kiloora village of Shopian on Friday evening after receiving inputs about the presence of militants there.
He said as security personnel were laying siege of the village, they came under the volume of fire from the hiding militants.
“The fire was returned by the troops and the gunfight continued throughout the night. In the heavy exchange of fire, five Lashkar-e-Toiba militants were killed,” the official said.
He said the operation in the area is going on and they suspect that more militants are hiding there.
The official said security forces did not suffer any casualties in the gunfight. “There was also no collateral damage”.
Additional troops have been rushed to the area to maintain law and order and prevent people from taking to roads and marching towards the encounter site.
One of the slain militants has been identified as Umar Nazir Malik alias Umar Malik of Shopian. He had joined militancy in August last year.