Three Indian soldiers were killed in a militant attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pampore town on Saturday afternoon, the Northern Command of the Indian Army told PTI. A police officer said that the attack took place when militants opened fire at an Army convoy in Kadlabal in Pampore town of Pulwama district.

Security forces have cordoned off the adjoining residential area and launched a search operation. “Terrorists attacked, security forces retaliated; Public was present so couldn’t fire openly but terrorists were forced to run away,” the inspector general of the Central Reserve Police Force told ANI.

Ever since the Indian Army conducted “surgical strikes” across the Line of Control on September 29, there have been regular attacks from across the border and multiple ceasefire violations. On December 14, security forces killed a militant during an encounter in Anantnag’s Bijbehara in Jammu and Kashmir while the armed forces had cordoned off Bomai in Sopore area as militants were believed to be hold up inside a building. Earlier on December 9, three suspected Lashkar-e-Taiba militants were killed in Bijbehara area of Anantnag district. An Army jawan was also injured in the 36-hour gunfight.