SRINAGAR: Five Lashkar militants were killed at the end of a two-day long encounter with security forces in north Kashmir’s Bandipora district on Friday.
A joint contingent of police, CRPF and Army had laid siege around Shokhbaba village at Sumlar on Friday morning after receiving intelligence inputs about the presence of militants there.
As the security personnel plugged off all escape routes and started the combing operation, they came under fire from militants. Soon, a gunfight broke out in the village.
A police officer said two militants were killed till Thursday evening. “Three other militants kept on engaging the security men,” he said.
Additional troops were rushed to the area to tighten the cordon and prevent militants from escaping.
Intermittent gunshots continued during the night. However, the intensity of firing picked up in the morning. By evening, three more militants were eliminated.
Besides arms and ammunition, security personnel recovered bodies of the five militants from the encounter site. Troopers conducted search operation after the guns fell silent in the village.
According to the officer, the slain militants were part of a freshly infiltrated militant group. Bandipora was once the hub of counter-insurgents but now Lashkar militants are active in the district, which acts as a transit route for infiltrating militants.