Three militants gunned down in encounter with security forces in J&K's Pulwama; one civilian killed

Three militants were gunned down and a civilian youth lost his life in an encounter between security forces and terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama district on Friday. A gunfight broke out between militants and security forces when the terrorists fired at forces during a cordon and search operation. The terrorists were holed up in a residential building in Chatapora area of the Thumma village. [caption id=“attachment_4595991” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. AP[/caption] The search operation was launched in Pulwama district after specific information about the presence of militants there, a police official said. The security forces managed to pinpoint the location of the militants within hours of launching the operations, but the efforts were delayed due to the presence of some civilians in the house. A gunfight broke out between the security forces and the militants after all the civilians were evacuated. All the three militants were killed, the official said. Meanwhile, a mob started hurling stones at the security forces involved in the anti-militancy operation. At least five people received pellet or bullet injuries in the security forces’ action against the protestors, the police official said. He said one of the injured, 16-year-old Faizaan Ahmad Khan, was declared dead by doctors at a hospital. Earlier on Friday, an unidentified militant was killed in an encounter with security forces in the forests of Jammu and Kashmir’s Kupwara district. An army official said one militant was killed in the exchange of firing between the two sides. The identity and group affiliation of the slain militant was not known yet. With inputs from PTI