Four militants belonging to a combined group of Lashkar-e-Taiba and Hizbul Mujahideen terror outfits, were killed, while three army jawans and a policeman injured in an encounter in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district Monday, police said.

Acting on a credible input about the presence of militants in Lassipora area of south Kashmir's Pulwama district, security forces launched a cordon and search operation there this morning, a police spokesperson said.

He said during the searches, the militants fired upon the search party of the forces, who retaliated.

In the ensuing encounter, four militants were killed and their bodies were retrieved from the site of the encounter, the spokesperson said.

He said in the initial exchange of firing, three army jawans and one policeman sustained injuries.

The injured were hospitalised and are stated to be stable, he added.

The spokesperson said it was a clean operation and no collateral damage took place during the encounter.

He identified the slain militants as Zaffar Paul, a resident of Dangerpora Shopian, Tauseef Ahmad Yattoo, a resident of Gudbug Pulwama, Aqib Ahmad Kumar, a resident of Hellow Shopian and Mohammad Shafi Bhat, a resident Sedow Shopian.

"According to the police records, it was a combined group of proscribed terror outfits HM and LeT. They were wanted by law for their complicity in a series of terror crimes, including attack on security establishments and civilian atrocities," the spokesperson said.

He said Yattoo had a "long history of terror crime records and several terror crime cases" were registered against him.

"Yattoo was involved in conspiring and executing many terror attacks in the area," he said.

The spokesperson said,"Paul was involved in many terror crimes cases which were registered against him in the Shopian police station. Kumar and Bhat were also involved in terror crimes in the area," he said.

Incriminating material, including arms and ammunition, was recovered from the site of the encounter, the spokesperson said, adding that all the material have been taken in the case records for further investigation and to probe their complicity in other such cases.

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