The Wire Staff 
Srinagar: Five suspected militants are believed to have been gunned down in an encounter with security forces in south Kashmir’s Kulgam district, officials said on Thursday (December 19). Two army soldiers were also injured in the shooting.
The encounter broke out on the day when the Union home minister Amit Shah is likely to chair a security review meeting on Jammu and Kashmir in the national capital, his maiden meeting after the Union territory got its elected government led by chief minister Omar Abdullah.
A senior police officer said that a cordon and search operation was launched by a joint team of the Army’s 34 Rashtriya Rifles, police and paramilitary forces following inputs about the presence of militants in Behibagh area of Kader village in Kulgam district.
During searches, the officer said that the militants hiding in the village resorted to heavy firing on the security forces which was retaliated, triggering a gun-battle.
In the exchange of gunfire between the two sides, the officer said that five suspected militants, whose identity has not been confirmed so far, were killed. Sources said that five bodies were lying in an orchard in the village and they were being retrieved by the security forces.
“Two army soldiers were also injured in the shootout and they have been evacuated to a medical facility for treatment,” the officer said.
The slain militants have been identified as Farooq Ahmad Bhat alias Farooq Nalli, one of the longest surviving militant commanders of the proscribed Hizbul Mujahideen outfit. His associates who were also killed have been identified as Mushtaq Ahmad Itoo, Mohammad Irfan, Adil Hussain and Yasir Javid Bhat. All the five were residents of Kulgam district.
The Kashmir Zone Police posted on X: “Encounter has started at Kadder area of Kulgam district. Police and security forces are on the job. Further details shall follow.”
The Indian Army’s Srinagar-based Chinar Corps posted on X: ”OP KADER, Kulgam. Based on specific intelligence input regarding the presence of terrorists, a Joint Operation was launched by the Indian Army and J-K police at Kader, Kulgam. Suspicious activity was observed by vigilant troops and on being challenged, terrorists opened indiscriminate and heavy volumes of fire. Own troops effectively retaliated. Operation is in progress.”
Militant attacks high
The encounter in Kulgam took place at a time when the civilian death toll in suspected militant attacks in Jammu and Kashmir is at a three-year high with 31 civilians killed this year so far, compared with 12 in 2023 and 30 in 2022, according to South Asia Terrorism Portal which monitors the conflict in the Union territory.
The number of militants killed in Jammu and Kashmir this year has dropped to 64 which is the lowest since the armed insurgency broke out in the region in the early 1990s. Officials attributed the drop in militant kills to the decline in the number of active militants in the region.
According to a senior police official, there are 30 Kashmiri militants who are actively operating in the region along with an unspecified number of foreign terrorists, many of whom are believed to have taken refuge in the higher reaches of Pir Panjal and Chenab valley region.
Meanwhile, Shah will chair the security review meeting with J&K’s lieutenant governor Manoj Sinha, top officers of security and intelligence agencies as well as the officers of the Ministry of Home Affairs amid speculations that the Centre was soon going to notify the business rules for Jammu and Kashmir.
“The Home Minister will review the security situation in J&K. He will be briefed about the prevailing situation in J&K and the situation along the border areas,” sources told PTI news agency.
The meeting comes in the backdrop of a spate of terror attacks targeting security forces and civilians which has spread a wave of anxiety and fear, especially in the border areas of Jammu and Kashmir.