An encounter is underway between security forces and militants in Nawakadal area of Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, early on Tuesday, said the police.
The operation began around midnight when security forces encircled a cluster of houses in the Nawakadal neighbourhood, the Hindustan Times reported. The mobile internet service in the area has been suspended.
The security forces involved in the operation comprised jawans from the Central Reserve Police Force and the Jammu and Kashmir Police. So far, there have been no reports of casualties in the encounter, The Indian Express reported.
There have been a number of gunfights between militants and security forces in Jammu and Kashmir over the past month.
On May 17, security forces killed two Hizbul Mujahideen militants in Doda district of Jammu. One of the militants was Hizbul Mujahideen Commander Tahir Ahmed Bhat.
On May 6, Indian security forces killed Hizbul Mujahideen commander Riyaz Naikoo, in the Beighpora area of Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama district. The police said that Naikoo was the mastermind behind the revival of the Hizbul Mujahideen outfit in Jammu and Kashmir.
Five security personnel – an Army colonel, a major, two Army officers and a police sub inspector – were killed during an 18-hour anti-militancy operation on May 3.
On April 29, three militants were killed in a gun battle with security forces in Melhora village in Shopian district. On April 22, four militants were killed in a gunfight in the village.
Three militants were killed after an encounter broke out in Lower Munda in Qazigund area of Kulgam district on April 27. The encounter began when militants fired upon a police patrol party in Lower Munda. The previous day, the security forces killed four militants in an encounter in the district.
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