The Wire Staff 
Srinagar: Three suspected militants were gunned down while four security personnel suffered injuries in two encounters that broke out on Saturday (November 2) amid a dramatic spurt in violence in the Kashmir valley.
Four militancy-related incidents have been reported in Kashmir over the last 15 hours, including a targeted attack in which two migrant labourers from Uttar Pradesh were injured in central Kashmir’s Budgam district on Friday evening.
According to reports, two unidentified militants were gunned down in an encounter in the aftermath of an anti-insurgency operation that was launched in Halkan Gali of the Shangus-Larnoo area of the Anantnag district in south Kashmir on Saturday morning.
One of the slain suspects is believed to be a foreigner and the other a local, PTI reported.
Meanwhile, an unidentified militant was gunned down while two J&K police personnel as well as two Central Reserve Paramilitary Force (CRPF) troopers were injured in an ongoing gunfight that erupted on Saturday morning in Srinagar city.
Inspector general of police (Kashmir) V.K. Birdi identified the slain militant as Usman Bhai, a Lashkar-e-Tayyiba commander. He claimed that Usman was involved in the killing of a police inspector among other similar attacks on civilians and security forces.
Three houses were severely damaged in the encounter in Srinagar, which broke out less than 15 hours after the two migrant labourers from Uttar Pradesh’s Saharanpur district – identified as Usman Malik and Sofiyan – suffered firearm injuries when suspected militants fired at them in the Magam area of Budgam district.
This was the fifth such targeted attack on non-locals after the Omar Abdullah-led coalition government was sworn into office last month.
After J&K got its first elected government in more than six years, there has been a spurt in militant attacks. Eighteen civilians, security personnel and militants have been shot dead in targeted attacks and encounters in October.
These incidents have been reported from south, central and north Kashmir as well as in the Jammu division, indicating the widespread presence of militants in the Union territory.
Officials said that a search operation was launched jointly by a team of army, J&K police and paramilitary personnel in Srinagar’s Khanyar on Saturday morning following intelligence inputs about the presence of militants in the locality.
“During searches, militants opened fire on the search party, which retaliated, triggering a gun battle. Additional reinforcements have been rushed to the area. The exchange of fire is going on,” a source said, adding that one suspected militant was killed in the ongoing firefight.
The site of the encounter is less than a kilometre away from a popular Sufi shrine that is thronged by thousands of devotees every year.
National Conference president Farooq Abdullah and the Congress’s J&K chief Tariq Hamid Karra expressed sadness and condemned the attack.
Meanwhile, the army said on Saturday that suspected militants opened fire on a patrol of soldiers in the forests of Bandipora’s Panar village in north Kashmir on Friday evening.
The army’s Srinagar-based Chinar Corps said in a post on X that the soldiers were carrying out a search operation in the forest when they came under fire.
Sources said there was no loss of life or injury in the shootout, following which militants managed to disappear into the dense forest and an operation was launched to hunt them, during which two bags allegedly used by militants for carrying supplies were recovered.
The army has advised residents of nearby villages to remain vigilant and report any suspicious activity, emphasising the crucial role of community support in ongoing anti-terrorism efforts.
J&K has witnessed a spurt in attacks on civilians and security forces over the past one month, coinciding with the formation of the popular government led by National Conference vice-president Omar Abdullah with the support of the Congress, Communist Party of India (Marxist) and some independent candidates.
On October 29, three suspected militants were gunned down in an anti-insurgency operation in the Akhnoor district of J&K after they unsuccessfully tried to ambush an army ambulance in the Khour sector along the Line of Control.
An army dog identified as Phantom was also injured in the encounter, which lasted for more than 12 hours. The canine later succumbed to its injuries.
“We salute the supreme sacrifice of our true hero — a valiant Indian Army dog, Phantom,” the army’s Jammu-based White Knight Corps said on X, adding that his “courage, loyalty, and dedication will never be forgotten”.
On October 24, two army soldiers and two civilian porters were gunned down when suspected militants ambushed an army truck in the north Kashmir ski resort of Gulmarg in one of the deadliest attacks on security forces since the Abdullah-led government came to office.
Three more soldiers were wounded in the attack.
Earlier, a migrant worker from Uttar Pradesh was shot and injured in the Awantipora police district of south Kashmir on October 23. Shubham Kumar, a resident of Bijnor district, survived with minor injuries.
On October 20, a Kashmiri doctor and six workers were killed when two suspected militants surfaced inside the base camp of Apco Infra Ltd in central Kashmir’s Ganderbal district and fired indiscriminately.
This article was updated at 3:22 pm, 4:28 pm and 8:25 pm with new information.