Four militants were killed in an encounter with security forces in Melhura village of Jammu and Kashmir’s Shopian district on Wednesday, the police said.

On Tuesday, security forces had launched a cordon-and-search operation in Melhora after getting information about the presence of militants, an unidentified police official told PTI. He added that the search operation turned into an encounter after the militants fired at the security forces. The security forces retaliated, triggering a gunbattle.

The militants belonged to the Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind outfit, India Today reported. One of them was the outfit’s top commander. The encounter was carried out by a joint team of the Indian Army’s 55 Rashtriya Rifles, the Shopian police and the Central Reserve Police Force, according to the news network.

Last week, security forces had killed two militants in an encounter in Shopian’s Dairoo area. The encounter had broken out after a search operation for the militants was launched by the Central Reserve Police Force along with 44 Rashtriya Rifled and Special Operation Group.

Earlier this month, five soldiers of the Indian Army were killed during an exchange of fire in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kupwara district. While three soldiers were killed during an encounter, two more soldiers died while foiling an infiltration bid along the Line of Control. The Army had killed five militants who attempted to cross over the Line of Control.