india

Updated: Mar 29, 2019 18:08 IST

Two militants of the Jaish-e-Mohammed were killed and four soldiers of the Indian Army injured in a gun battle in central Kashmir’s Budgam district, police said on Friday.

The encounter between the militants and security forces started in Nowgam on the city outskirts in Budgam district and the cordon and search operation, which was launched in the morning, is still underway.

Officials said two rifles have also been recovered near the site of the encounter.

Authorities have suspended high-speed internet in Srinagar and Budgam districts.

On Thursday, four militants were killed in two separate gunfights with security forces in Kashmir. While three militants of a joint group of Hizbul Mujahideen and Lashkar-e-Taiba were killed in south Kashmir’s Shopian; the fourth militant Danish Ahmad Dar was killed in north Kashmir’s Handwara in Kupwara district.

Thirty militants, including 20 from Jaish-e-Mohammed, have been killed in 14 encounters across the Kashmir valley since the February 14 Pulwama attack.

Fifty-nine militants and 57 security forces personnel – 43 CRPF personnel including those in the Pulwama attack, eight army men and six police personnel – have been killed so far this year. As many as 12 civilians have also lost their lives in various incidents of violence.