india

Updated: Dec 03, 2018 16:23 IST

A brief gun battle between militants and security forces in south Kashmir’s Shopian district on Monday ended with the escape of the militants, officials said.

The brief exchange of fire erupted after security forces started a cordon and search in Sangran village of Shopian district early in the morning after receiving a tip-off about the presence of militants.

“As the security forces tried to close in on the militants, they opened fire and immediately escaped,” said a police official of Shopian.

He said the security forces also responded to the firing which continued for a brief period. The official said their searches after the exchange of fire did not yield any results.

Earlier in the day, police claimed they have busted two modules of Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) and arrested ten associates of the militants in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district.

Police said the ten men were JeM associates and arrested from Tral and Khrew areas of Pulwama.

November has been the bloodiest month of this year for the insurgents with 37 militants killed in encounters across Kashmir in the month. Among the militants killed in November, nine were top commanders, including Lashkar-e-Taiba’s face Naveed Jatt, who was shot dead last Wednesday in Budgam district.

Official figures show 227 militants have been killed in different parts of Kashmir so far this year.

While they belonged to different organisations, the Lashkar and Hizbul Mujahideen suffered major losses this month as both groups lost some of their top commanders, especially in south Kashmir, which has become a hotbed of militancy. Last year, 207 militants were killed in this period.