Security personnel stand guard during an encounter with militants, in Kulgam, on Thursday, November 16, 2023. (Photo | PTI) 
India

Anti-terror operation in J-K's Kulgam enters second day; Five terrorists gunned down

The joint operation against the terrorists involves the Army's 34 Rashtriya Riffles, 9 Para (elite special forces unit), police, and the CRPF.

Fayaz Wani

KULGAM: Five militants have been killed in the ongoing encounter with security forces in a village in south Kashmir’s Kulgam district of Jammu and Kashmir on Friday.

A police official said five militants, suspected to be members of Lashkar-e-Toiba, were killed in the overnight gunfight in village Samno in the Damhal Hanjipora area of south Kashmir’s Kulgam district.

He said the identity of the slain militants was being ascertained. The police official said that the operation is in the final stages.

He said that a cache of arms and ammunition and other incriminating material has been recovered from the possession of the slain militants.

A contingent of police, CRPF, and the army had laid siege around village Samno in the Damhal Hanjipora area of Kulgam yesterday evening after receiving inputs about the presence of militants there.

The gunfight had erupted during the cordon and search operation when militants fired on the troops, who retaliated.

The intermittent gunfire between militants and the troops continued throughout the night.

“Security forces launched a final assault on trapped militants in the early hours today,” a police official said.

He said the drones were also pressed into service to pinpoint the exact number and exact location of the trapped militants.

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