Two unidentified militants killed in encounter with security forces Jammu and Kashmir's Sopore

Two unidentified militants were killed in an early morning encounter with security forces in Hardshiva village of Sopore in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district on Thursday.

Reports said the gun fight erupted after a joint team of the Army's 22-Rashtriya Rifles and J&K police launched a cordon-and-search-operation in the wee hours of Thursday following ‘specific inputs’ about the presence of militants in the area.

A police officer said the operation turned into an encounter after hiding militants fired at the search party, which retaliated. “In the ensuing gun battle two militants hiding in a residential house were killed,” he said and added bodies of slain ultras have been recovered and their identification and group affiliation is being ascertained.

The bodies of the slain local militants are taken either to Sonamarg in central Kashmir or Boniyar in Baramulla for quiet burial. Lately, police have been denying the bodies of militants to their families as their funerals may attract large crowds.

There has been an increase in anti-militancy operations in the Valley since March. Security forces have launched multiple anti-militancy operations in Srinagar, south and north Kashmir.

Since the Covid-19 lockdown, over 70 militants and two of their associates have been killed, while 25 security forces personnel, including two in ceasefire violations, have lost their lives. From January this year, over 100 militants have been killed across Kashmir in dozens of encounters with security forces. 154 militants were killed in gun battles across Kashmir in the first seven months of 2019.

In the next five months, only 20 militants were neutralized by the security forces as anti-insurgency operations almost came to a halt as security and communication clampdown was imposed to prevent civilian protests in the wake of the revocation of Article 370 on August 5.

Last week Inspector General Police (IGP), Kashmir, Vijay Kumar, said that 100-200 militants were still active in Kashmir.