Three JeM militants killed in encounter in Pulwama

The officials said the search operation turned into an encounter after the militants fired on the forces

Three militants affiliated with Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad outfit were killed in a pre-dawn encounter with security forces in Tral area of south Kashmir’s Pulwama district on Saturday.

Reports said the gun battle broke out in the wee hours of Saturday after Army and J&K police cordoned off Nagbaeran forest area of Tral following a tip off about the presence of militants there.

The search operation turned into an encounter after the militants fired upon the search party of the security forces, who retaliated. In the ensuing firefight, police said, three Jaish militants were killed while three AK rifles were recovered from the encounter site.

“#TralEncounterUpdate: 03 unidentified #terrorist affiliated with proscribed #terror outfit JeM killed. #Search going on. Further details shall follow (sic),” J&K police tweeted.

On Friday two militants of Hizbul Mujahideen outfit were killed in Khrew area of Pulwama district.

Over 100 militants and 21 security forces and J&K police personnel have been killed in Jammu Kashmir since the beginning of this year. The highest number of militants (31) were killed in July, which included several top commanders of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).

Among 100 militants killed in J&K this year, only 11 are Pakistanis while the rest are all locals. According to the Army, there are still 200-225 militants active across J&K despite the fact that almost no infiltration has taken place so far this year.

Official data reveals that 82 locals joined militancy in the first seven months of 2021, while 88 ultras were killed in the same period in encounters with the security forces.

The spate of recruitment suggests that the counter-offensive of security forces is proving to be a zero-sum game, as for every militant killed a new one is immediately being recruited. Last year, there were around 220 active militants in Kashmir and despite the killing of 80 militants this year, the number, as per police records, remains more or less the same.