Handwara encounter: 3 Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists killed in Jammu and Kashmir's Unisoo village; civilian dies in crossfire

Three terrorists were gunned down and one civilian was killed during an overnight anti-insurgency operation in a village in Jammu and Kashmir's Handwara town, reports said. Following the encounter, internet services were suspended in Sopore, Baramulla, Handwara and Kupwara, ANI reported.

According to ANI, search operations are still underway in Unisoo village in Kupwara district, where the encounter began last night. The identity of the three terrorists and the civilian woman has not yet been ascertained, however, initial reports claimed that the terrorists are most likely Pakistanis and part of Lashkar-e-Taiba militant group. An India Today report said that "the gunfight started at 3 am when the troops of 92 CRPF Battalion along with 22 Rashtriya Rifle and Jammu and Kashmir Police personnel, acting on intel laid a cordon in the area".

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According to a tweet by Jammu and Kashmir DGP SP Vaid, the security forces managed to successfully neutralise the terrorists despite a bad weather.

Vaid reportedly said the slain militants were “apparently Pakistanis”. Security forces launched a cordon and search operation in the early hours in Unisoo village of Handwara following specific intelligence inputs about the presence of militants in the area, a police official said.

The official added that the search operation turned into an encounter as the hiding militants fired upon the forces conducting the searches. Their (militants) bodies along with three weapons have been recovered from the encounter site.

Early on Monday morning, the Jammu and Kashmir Police had also tweeted informing that it had launched a cordon and search operation at Unisoo in Handwara, which turned into an encounter.

An earlier tweet of ANI had claimed that one terrorist was captured in an injured state. His condition is not known yet, however, India Today claimed that the security forces have captured one terrorist alive while neutralising other three.