Hizbul Mujahideen commander Masood Ahmed Bhat and two suspected Lashkar-e-Taiba militants were killed in a gunfight with security forces in Anantnag district, the Jammu and Kashmir Police said on Monday. The operation was jointly launched by the Army, the Anantnag police and the Central Reserve Police Force, they said.

The encounter took place at Khull Chohar area of Doda district. Security forces launched a cordon and search operation area after receiving input about the presence of suspected militants, an unidentified police official told Hindustan Times.

“Masood was last surviving terrorist of Doda,” the J&K police said in a tweet. “He was involved in a rape case of Doda police and was absconding ever since. He later joined HIzbul Mujahideen and shifted his area of operation to Kashmir.”

A suspected Lashkar-e-Taiba district commander was among the two others who were killed, the police added. Their identities are yet to be ascertained. An AK-47 and two pistols were recovered from the site of the gunfight.