Police officers said around 8:00 pm on Sunday, a patrolling party of joint forces was attacked by militants in between villages Chehlan and Asthal of district Kulgam. (Representational/Express photo by Shuaib Masoodi)

Four militants were killed in an encounter with security forces in South Kashmir’s Kulgam district on Sunday evening. This is the third encounter in the Valley in the last 48 hours, and together, eight militants and one militant “associate” have been killed.

Police officers said around 8:00 pm on Sunday, a patrolling party of joint forces was attacked by militants in between villages Chehlan and Asthal of district Kulgam.

#KulgamEncounterUpdate:
02 #terrorists killed so far. 02 more #terrorists trapped. Operation going on. Further details shall follow. @JmuKmrPolice https://t.co/Ve2odcPK3o

— Kashmir Zone Police (@KashmirPolice) April 26, 2020

An officer said in the exchange of fire, an Army personnel was injured, and subsequently, an encounter broke out in the area.

Kashmir Police Zone confirmed on Twitter that four militants had been killed in the encounter.

In two different tweets, police said four militants were killed. “02 more #terrorists killed. Operation still going on. Further details shall follow,” their latest tweet on the encounter read.

According to the Kulgam Police, “In view of inputs regarding militants planning to kill cops, an exhaustive domination plan was carried out by joint forces of Kulgam and one such patrolling party was attacked by militants on Sunday night in Kulgam.”

Before this, two militants and a militant “associate” were killed in a gunbattle with security forces in Pulwama district on Saturday morning.

On Friday night, two militants were killed after they abducted a cop from Kulgam district and the security forces intercepted the militants, which triggered an encounter. While the police rescued the abducted cop, two militants were killed in the brief encounter.