The anti-terrorist operation was still in progress.
Two civilians including a girl were wounded in an ongoing gunfight between militants holed up in a house and security forces in south Kashmir Pulwama district.
The encounter broke out when troops confronted a group of militants trying to sneak into the valley from across the border.
He was oldest surviving militant in Jammu and Kashmir, where he entered from Pakistan in May 1997 from Rajouri sector as a militant of Lashker-e-Tayiba.
On a tip off about the presence of LeT terrorist Abu Hamza in Kurar village of Bonjwah tehsil, 26 Rashtriya Rifles and police laid a cordon of the area, official sources said. During the search operation, terrorists fired on the operation party, who retaliated and in the ensuing gun battle that continued for four hours the terrorist was shot dead.
Maj Deswal of 21 Para (Special Force) was killed in a gunbattle with Zeliangrong United Front militants in densely forested Nungba area during a combing operation undertaken by Rashtriya Rifles and Special Forces personnel.
Search operations are still going on in the area.
Militant outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Umar Khatab was killed and an army jawan wounded in a fierce gun-battle in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district on Sunday. Khatab was killed in a gunfight with security forces in Bhatti-Dar area at Mendhar early on Sunday morning, said Brigadier General Staff (16 Coprs) S Dua. Acting on specific information that some militants were hiding in Bhatti-Dar area, Rashtriya Rifles troops and the police launched a search-and-cordon operation.
Five militants and an army trooper were killed and four others wounded in an encounter in north Kashmir's Kupwara district. The gunfight erupted early on Friday after troops of counter insurgency Rashtriya Rifles and the police jointly surrounded a house, acting on a specific tip-off about the presence of a group of militant commanders inside it. "The operation is over. We have recovered the bodies of the militants," said a spokesperson.
The entire area has been cordoned off while drones and sniffer dogs are being used to sniff out the terrorists that might be hiding in the area, they said.
Senior Superintendent of Police, Rajouri, Farooq Khan told UNI that army personnel of 43 Rashtriya Rifles along with state police, acting on a tip-off, cordoned off Raina Mohalla of Thanamandi for search operations.
"As the troops moved in, they came under heavy fire from the militants hiding in a house. Reinforcements were immediately rushed to the area and the house was surrounded," a senior police officer said in Srinagar.
Scores of people on Thursday turned up at the residences of Colonel Manpreet Singh and Major Ashish Dhonchak, killed in a gunfight with terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir's Anantnag, to mourn the loss, with some saying the Army should give a befitting reply to the ultras for the cowardly act.
A captain of the Rashtriya Rifles was killed and three other troopers wounded in a fierce encounter in Dadsara village of south Kashmir's Pulwama district.
A gunbattle broke out between militants and security forces in Baramulla district of North Kashmir on Wednesday morning.
A patrolling party of 53 Rashtriya Rifles came under fire from terrorists at village Hayatpora.
Security forces surrounded the mosque and cordoned off the area.
Abu Umar, who coordinates the militant outfit's operations in the country, was killed during a search operation by police and Rashtriya Rifles personnel, which took place in Banderwah area of the district early on Wednesday morning.
An army major, a naval commando and two top militants were among the eight persons killed in two encounters in north Kashmir in the past 24 hours.
Jammu and Kashmir Director General of Police Gopal Sharma had said recently that 1200 fully armed militants were still active in the state even though the number of violent incidents had come down.
Three unidentified militants were killed in a fierce gunfight in the hilly Mahore area of Reasi district in Jammu region on Monday.Troops of the 58 Rashtriya Rifles surrounded a forest area near Mahore early on Monday after receiving specific information about the presence of a group of militants in it.He said, "The operation is over. Arms and ammunition have also been recovered from the encounter site".
The police, assisted by Rashtriya Rifles, raided Neloora village of Pulwama district to flush out the hiding militants
Two people were killed and 40 others, including four army soldiers, wounded in a south Kashmir grenade explosion late on Saturday afternoon.
Eight militants were killed across Jammu and Kashmir in three different gunfights between security forces and militants Wednesday.
The controversy triggered by the killing of a 70-year-old 'militant' by the army on April 14 in north Kashmir's Kupwara district took a new turn on Saturday, after the district magistrate ordered the exhumation of the slain person's body.On Wednesday, a defence spokesman had said in a press statement said that 'a militant was killed in an encounter with the counter-insurgency Rashtriya Rifles troops and the local police in Rainawari forest area near Handwara'.
Five militants were killed in a day-long fierce gunfight in frontier north Kashmir Kupwara district on Saturday.
Two militants, including a commander of Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) outfit, were killed in a fierce south Kashmir encounter that ended on Saturday evening.
A militant commander was killed in a fierce encounter in north Kashmir's Baramulla district early on Sunday.
Four terrorists were killed in two separate encounters a day ahead of the Republic Day in Jammu and Kashmir, where security has been beefed up.
A senior officer of the elite counter-insurgency Rashtriya Rifles was killed and a member of the special operations group critically wounded in two continuing north Kashmir encounters on Friday.
The two-day-long bloody gunfight between the security forces and the militants ended in Srinagar on Wednesday afternoon in which two army majors and nine militants were killed.
Two militants from the Hizbul Mujaheedin outfit, including fugitive Raees Ahmad Kachroo, were killed in a fierce encounter at Mailura in south Kashmir's Shopian district on Wednesday morning. Based on a tip-off about the militants hiding in a house in Mailura, troops of the 55 Rashtriya Rifles and Special Operations Group of the police surrounded their hide-out and asked the two militants to surrender. were killed," a police spokesman said.
A gunfight between holed up militants and security forces erupted in the central Kashmir Budgam district on Wednesday.
A top commander of the Hizbul Mujahideen was on Saturday gunned down in the ongoing encounter between security forces and militants in the Budhal area of Rajouri district in Jammu and Kashmir, official sources in Jammu said.
A self-styled section commander of the Hizbul Mujahideen outfit was shot dead by security forces during an encounter in Marmat area of Doda district of Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday.
One of the slain militants were identified as Wasim, a Pakistani national and self-styled district commander of JeM.
In a pre-dawn operation, security forces shot dead a self-styled deputy chief commander of the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen in an encounter at Alasteng on the outskirts of Srinagar.
A woman was killed and nine others, including two army jawans, were injured when militants fired at a passenger bus during an attack on an army convoy in Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday morning.
Four militants, including three of Hizbul Mujahideen, were on Monday killed in two gunfights during search operations in the Kashmir valley, officials said.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances