Srinagar, Aug 2: Three terrorists were killed in a gunfight between the security forces and the terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir's Kulgam district.

The official said that after intelligence inputs about the presence of terrorists in the Akhal forest area of Kulgam district, joint forces, including the Army, the Central Reserve Police Force and Jammu and Kashmir Police, started a Cordon and Search Operation (CASO) on Friday.

"Exchange of fire between the joint forces and the hiding terrorists took place, and one terrorist was killed overnight while two were killed today. The operation is still going on to sanitise the area and find out if more terrorists are present in the area," the officials said.

"The identity and other details of the slain terrorists are being ascertained, but at least two of them appear to be locals," officials said.

Security forces have been carrying out aggressive operations against the terrorists in the hinterland, while the Army has been on maximum alert guarding the line of control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir.

The elimination of three hardcore Pakistani terrorists responsible for the April 22 Pahalgam attack, in which 26 people were killed, is part of the aggressive operations being carried out by the joint forces.

Three hardcore Pakistani terrorists, including LeT commander Suleman Shah and his two associates Abu Hamza and Jibran, responsible for the Pahalgam attack, were killed on July 28 in the higher reaches of Dachigam national park on the foot of Mahadev mountain peak in Harwan area of Srinagar.

The Army code-named this operation Operation Mahadev. After the Pahalgam terror attack, the security forces are carrying out anti-terrorist operations against gun-wielding terrorists, their over ground workers (OGWs) and sympathisers.

Drug smugglers and drug peddlers are also on the radar of the security forces because it is believed that the funds generated by the hawala money racket and drug smuggling are finally used to sustain terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir.

The coordinated and information-backed operations of the joint forces are aimed at dismantling the ecosystem of terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir rather than focusing on just the elimination of the gun-wielding terrorists.

(IANS)

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