SRINAGAR: An encounter has broken out between militants and security forces in Zabarwan forest area of Srinagar on Sunday.
According to a police official, a joint search operation was launched by police, CRPF and army men in the Zabarwan forest area in Inshber, Nishat in Srinagar in the early hours on Sunday after receiving specific intelligence input about the presence of militants there.
He said as the security men were conducting searches, they came under indiscriminate fire from militants hiding in the area.
“The fire was returned by the troops, triggering an encounter. The exchange of gunfire between militants and security personnel was going on,” the official said.
The security officials suspect the presence of two or three militants in the forest area.
Additional troops have been rushed to the area tighten the siege.
It is the second gunfight in Srinagar within a week.
On November 2, an encounter took place between militants and security personnel at the Khanyar area in downtown Srinagar. In the day-long encounter, a top Lashkar-e-Toiba commander Usman Lashkari, a Pakistani national, was killed.
There has been a sudden surge in encounters and militant attacks iN Jammu-Kashmir since the elected government led by Omar Abdullah assumed charge.