Security personnel on vigil following an encounter with terrorists in Akhal, in Kulgam district, Jammu and Kashmir
| Photo Credit:
PTI
A major anti-militancy operation in south Kashmir’s Kulgam district entered its third day on Sunday, with two militants killed in a gunfight with security forces, said officials.
The encounter began on Friday evening in the Akhal forest area of Devsar, about 70 km south of Srinagar, after security forces launched a search operation based on intelligence inputs about the presence of militants.
“As troops zeroed in on a suspected hideout, they came under fire, triggering an encounter,” said a police official.
Body of one militant recovered
Intermittent gunfire and explosions continued on Sunday. Two security personnel were also injured, according to officials. Of the two militants, reportedly killed, the body of only one has been recovered so far.
The ongoing operation is the second major anti-insurgency action in Kashmir in just over a week.
On July 28, three Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militants, allegedly involved in the Pahalgam attack, were killed in a separate encounter. In another incident, the Indian Army said on Wednesday that its troops shot dead two militants attempting to infiltrate across the Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch district, near the border with Pakistan.
In the wake of the Pahalgam killings, security forces intensified counterinsurgency operations, killing at least six militants in two separate encounters in south Kashmir within a week of the attack.
Published on August 3, 2025