SRINAGAR — The Jammu and Kashmir police on Wednesday claimed to have killed three militants in a military operation in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district, including an IED’s mastermind.

In a statement, a police spokesperson said that acting on “specific input” regarding the presence of militants in Chandgam village of Pulwama district, a joint cordon and search operation was launched by Police, 55RR and 182Bn CRPF in the area.

During the search operation, the statement said, as the joint search party proceeded towards the suspected spot, the militants fired “indiscriminately” upon the joint search party which was retaliated leading to an “encounter”.

In the ensuing operation, three militants were killed and their bodies were retrieved from the site of the operation. The spokesperson said that among the slain militants two have been identified as Mir Owais, a resident of Ashmander Pulwama and a Pakistani national Talha Yasir linked with ‘proscribed’ militant outfit Jaish-e-Muhammad. He said although the recoveries made from the site of encounter indicate the third slain to be a foreigner, however, his identification is being ascertained.

He said that as per police records, all the slain militants were part of a group involved in several cases including attacks on “security forces and civilian atrocities”.

Police have registered a case under relevant sections of law and investigation has been initiated, the spokesperson said.