While the search operation was going on, the militants fired on the troops in a bid to escape, but all three were killed during the retaliatory firing. IG Kashmir Vijay Kumar confirming the operation said that among the three, two are militants while one was a hardcore OGW. However, there is no official word on the identification of the dead militants.
Earlier, on specific inputs about the presence of militants, a Cordon and Search Operation (CASO) was launched in the area by joint team of forces including 50 RR and Awantipora Police. During the searches, the hiding militants fired upon forces, triggering an encounter.
This was the second encounter in south Kashmir in the last 24 hours.
On Friday evening two militants were killed and a policeman was hurt in a brief shootout in Kharpora Arwani area of Anantnag district whereas an abducted policeman was rescued during the operation.
Last week, three Central Reserve Police Force jawans were killed when their vehicle was attacked by militants in Jammu and Kashmir’s Sopore. This was the second attack on the CRPF since last night.