Three local militants affiliated with the Lashker-e-Toiba (LeT) outfit were killed and an Army officer was injured in an encounter between ultras and security forces in the Bijbehara area of south Kashmir’s Anantnag district on Wednesday.

Sources said the encounter broke out after troops of army’s 3-Rashtriya Rifles and J&K police cordoned off Pazalpora village in Bijbehara, 48 kms from here, on a ‘specific input’ about the presence of militants in the area during the intervening night of Tuesday and Wednesday.

“As the searches were going on in the area, the hiding militants fired upon the security forces and in the retaliatory fire three ultras were killed,” they said and added one army personnel was also injured in the gun fight.

“#Bijbehara #encounter update: 3 killed terrorists identified as Nasir Chadru, Aqib Hajam and Zahid Hussain. Affiliated with proscribed terror outfit LeT. Involved in terror crimes as per police records. Arms and ammunition recovered. Case registered," a tweet by the official handle of the Kashmir Zone police read.

It was only the second encounter between militants and security forces in south Kashmir since August 5, when the Parliament scraped J&K special status under Article 370. Last week three militants were killed in a similar encounter in Kawani, Awantipora area of neighboring Pulwama district.

In the first seven months of this year, over 135 militants were killed in Kashmir by the security forces. However, as mobile and internet services were snapped by the authorities since August 5, only six encounters were reported across Kashmir in which 10 militants were killed.

“The flow of information from our source network had almost dried up due to the communication blockade. However, as the post-paid mobile phone service was restored on August 14, we hope source network of security agencies will again be active, resulting in more encounters,” a senior police officer told DH.

“As reports of infiltration from across the Line of Control (LOC) are pouring in, next few months in Kashmir could be very hot despite winter approaching,” he added.