Agencies

Srinagar, December 29:

Four Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) militants, including one suspected to be from Pakistan, were killed Saturday in an encounter with security forces in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district, police said.

Acting on specific information about the presence of militants in the Hanjan area, security forces launched a cordon and search operation in the morning, a police spokesman said.

He said as the forces were conducting searches, the hiding militants opened fire at them.

The forces retaliated, leading to an encounter in which four militants were killed, the spokesman said.

He said the slain militants were identified as Muzamil Ahmad Dar, Waseem Akram Wani, and Muzamil Nazir Bhat, all belonging to Pulwama.

From the incriminating materials found at the encounter site, one militant is learnt to be from Pakistan, the spokesman said.

“All the terrorists were affiliated with proscribed terror outfit JeM and wanted for their complicity in a series of terror crimes including attack on security establishments and civilian atrocities,” he said.

Arms and ammunition, including rifles, were found at the encounter site. The seized items have been taken in the case records for further investigation and to probe the militants’ complicity in other terror cases, he added.