Three suspected militants were killed in a gunfight with security forces in Srinagar’s Zadibal area on Sunday, the police said. This is the second gunfight in the city in over a month.

“Two of the slain terrorists have been identified as Shakoor Farooq Langoo from Barthana in Srinagar and Shahid Ahmad Bhat of Semthan in Bijbehara,” a senior police officer told PTI. “The identification of the other slain terrorist is yet to be ascertained.” The police said the three suspected militants were members of proscribed terror outfits Hizbul Mujahideen and Islamic State Jammu and Kashmir.

Kashmir Inspector-General of Police Vijay Kumar told ANI earlier in the day that security forces had received information about the presence of suspected militants in Srinagar. He added that the suspected militants had been trapped in a house. “Through our sources, we got to know of their [suspected militants’] identity and called their parents, who appealed to them to surrender. But they didn’t relent. Firing is on. Two of them are active since 2019. One was involved in attack on 2 BSF [Border Security Force] jawans last month.”

Mobile internet services in Srinagar have been snapped, according to the news agency. The gunfight was launched by a joint team of the police and the Central Reserve Police Force. The police have also imposed restrictions on the movement of people in Srinagar, PTI reported.

On May 19, security forces had killed two Hizbul Mujahideen militants in a gunfight in Srinagar’s densely populated Nawakadal area. Several houses were damaged and two civilians, including a 12-year-old boy, were killed.

Also read:

  1. A teenager, a helping hand, a father of six: The three civilians killed after a gunfight in Srinagar
  2. In pictures: A gunfight that raged in downtown Srinagar

Militant killed in Kulgam

The operation in Srinagar came within 24 hours of the killing of a suspected militant in Kulgam district on Saturday, a police officer said, according to PTI. “The killed terrorist was identified as Tayab Waleed alias Imran Bhai alias Gazi Baba, a Pakistani affiliated with proscribed terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad,” he said.

The suspected militant was an “operational commander” of the Jaish-e-Mohammad and an expert in making Improvised Explosive Devices apart from being a sharpshooter, according to police records.

Security forces have killed 31 suspected militants in June so far, and 105 this year.