Two Jaish-e-Muhammad militants were killed and a civilian was injured during a gunfight with security forces on Monday morning in Bijbehara town in Anantnag district of Jammu and Kashmir, the police said, according to Kashmir Reader. The operation was conducted in Srigufwara area of Bijbehara early on Monday.

Inspector General of Police Vijay Kumar said that one of the militants was a Pakistani citizen and another was a local resident. “Both belonged to Jaish,” he added. One of the militants was identified as Nasir, also known as Shahbaz or Baz Bai of Pakistan. The other militant was identified as Zahid Ahmad Khanday of Hugam locality in Srigufwara.

The injured civilian, identified as Arifa Jan, was hit by a stray bullet in the abdomen in her home. She was taken to the Primary Health Centre in Srigufwara.

An unidentified police official told Greater Kashmir that the operation was conducted early on Monday, with the involvement of the Special Operations Group of the police, the Indian Army’s 3 Rashtriya Rifles and the Central Reserve Police Force. The personnel cordoned off the Viday-Srigufwara village in Dachnipora belt.

“As the security forces zeroed in towards the house where the militants had taken shelter, the hiding militants fired upon them, the police officer said. “It was retaliated, triggering an encounter.”

The police buried the bodies of the militants in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district. In order to quell protests, the authorities snapped 2G internet services in Anantnag district. Kumar described the killing of the Pakistani militant as a “big success”. “The killing of three foreign militants – two in Sopore and one in Anantnag – in two days is a good sign for police and security forces,” he said.

The Indian Army has killed many suspected militants since June. Jammu and Kashmir Police chief Dilbag Singh had said on June 19 that over 100 militants have been killed by security forces in the region this year.

On Saturday, the Indian Army foiled an infiltration attempt and killed two suspected militants along the Line of Control in Naugam sector. A soldier and a woman were injured when suspected militants fired at an ambulance in Pampore town in Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir on July 9. One soldier was killed and two security forces personnel were injured in a gunfight in Pulwama on July 7. On June 23, a Central Reserve Police Force soldier was killed in a gunfight there with suspected militants. Two militants were also killed in the encounter.