Security forces kill 4 Jaish-e-Muhammad militants in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama; civilians protest near encounter site

An encounter broke out between militants and security forces in Rajpora in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama district on Saturday, police said. According to local media, four militants belonging to the Jaish-e-Muhammad terror outfit were killed in the gunfight. Acting on specific information about the presence of militants in Hanjan area of Pulwama in south Kashmir, security forces launched a cordon and search operation, a police official said. He said as the forces were conducting searches, the militants fired upon them from their place of hiding.

Brief exchange of fire between Security forces & #terrorists at Hanjan #Pulwama. Area under cordon. Details will follow. @JmuKmrPolice

— Kashmir Zone Police (@KashmirPolice) December 29, 2018

The forces retaliated, leading to the encounter, the official said. He said the gunfight is going on and further details were awaited. Weapons and other warlike stores were found at the encounter site, the official said. Meanwhile, civilians have reportedly attacked the security personnel engaged in combing operations. CNN-News18 reported that the security forces have been launching their regular search and sanitisation operations late in night or early morning when temperature falls to sub-zero temperatures so as to avoid interaction with the civilian population. However, Saturday’s encounter stretched on for over five hours, because of which a run in with the civilians became unavoidable as the news of encounter operation spread, the news channel reported. The encounter comes a day after one militant was killed in an encounter with security forces in Awantipora area of Pulwama. Last  week  ,six terrorists, including a close aide of Zakir Musa, were gunned down during an encounter in Awantipora. With inputs from PTI