Five suspected militants were killed in an encounter with security forces in Jammu and Kashmir’s Bandipora district that began on Thursday, the Jammu and Kashmir Police have confirmed. The encounter started when the Army, the state police, and the Central Reserve Police Force were carrying out a cordon and search operation at Shukbaba.

“The bodies of all five militants killed in the gunfight have been retrieved,” Senior Superintendent of Police Bandipora Zulfikar Azad told Greater Kashmir. A search operation is under way at the site of the encounter.

While the identity of the those killed is yet to be established, a police spokesperson said they were affiliated to the Lashkar-e-Taiba. “Apparently they were part of a freshly infiltrated group,” said the spokesperson. “Huge quantity of arms, ammunition and incriminating material was recovered from the site of encounter.”

Last week, security forces killed five suspected militants in an encounter in Kulgam’s Chowgam. The police said the deceased were Hizbul Mujahideen and Lashkar-e-Taiba operatives who were responsible for a series of terror attacks.

Earlier this month, three suspected militants were killed in an encounter with security forces in Bandipora. Before that, security forced shot dead two militants in another encounter in the district’s Hajin area.