"Three militants killed during an encounter at Kandi Aglar village of Pulwama district includes nephew of Jaish-e-Muhammad chief Maulana Masood Azhar and outfit's divisional commander," a JeM spokesman told in a statement.
The JeM spokesman identified Masood Azhar's nephew as commander Talha Rasheed.
He said two other terrorists who were killed in the encounter include Divisional Commander Muhammad Bhai, a non-local Waseem, a resident of Drubgam, Pulwama.
Meanwhile, one security personnel Lance Naik Vrahma Pal Singh lost his life in yesterday's encounter.
A civilian was also got injured in the gunfight.
Two AK-47s and a pistol were recovered from the site of the encounter.
Troops of 182 battalion and 183 battalion Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), along with 44 Rashtriya Rifles (RR) and the Jammu and Kashmir Police were carrying out a cordon and search operation (CASO) in the region, when the encounter broke out.
About Jaish-e-Mohammed
Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) is a Deobandi jihadist group active in Kashmir. Main motive of this group is to separate Kashmir from India and merge it into Pakistan and it has carried out several attacks primarily in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir JeM also maintained close relations with Taliban and Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and continues to be allied to them.