3 terrorists killed, 1 armyman injured in encounter in Kashmir

Three militants were killed on Sunday in an encounter with the army in Kupwara district of north Kashmir.

An army jawan was also injured in the encounter that began on Saturday night after troops launched a search operation in Khumhair forests of Handwara tehsil, 100 kilometre from Kashmir, following information about the presence of the militants, an army official said.

“Three terrorists have been killed while one soldier has sustained injuries during the operation,” the official added.

Sources in the army say the identity of the killed militants is yet to be ascertained but there are apprehensions that they were part of a recently infiltrated group.

There has been a spike in ceasefire violations along the Line of Control by Pakistan and gunbattles between security forces and militants lately. In fact, Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj in a press conference about the National Security Advisor-level talks on Saturday had said that Pakistan had carried out over 90 violations of the ceasefire.

Earlier this month, a Pakistani militant, Naved, was captured shortly after he and an accomplice killed two Border Security Force men and wounded nearly a dozen soldiers by ambushing a convoy on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway in Udhampur.

-- With inputs from Agencies