The Crossbill News Desk
Two suspected militants were killed in a gunfight with security forces along the Line of Control (LoC) in north Kashmir’s Kupwara district on Saturday (November 8), the Indian Army said. The encounter took place in the Keran sector during a joint counter-terror operation by the Army and Jammu and Kashmir Police, launched early in the morning following intelligence inputs about the presence of militants in the area.
A defence spokesperson based in Srinagar said the operation, codenamed ‘Op Pimple’, began after suspicious movement was detected during search operations.
Reinforcements were immediately dispatched to block possible escape routes, and in the ensuing exchange of fire, two suspected militants were shot dead, he added.
“Search of the area in progress,” the Srinagar-based Chinar Corps said in a post on X, indicating that the operation was continuing.
Authorities have not yet disclosed the identities or affiliations of those killed. It also remains unclear whether their bodies have been recovered or if any arms or materials were seized from the site.
Saturday’s operation comes nearly a month after security forces killed two suspected militants in another encounter, codenamed ‘Op Amar’, in the Macchail sector of Kupwara district on October 14.
According to security officials, infiltration attempts typically rise along the 700-kilometre LoC before the onset of harsh winter, when heavy snowfall renders mountain passes impassable.
Earlier incidents this year have also underscored the risks faced by security personnel in the region. In October, two soldiers went missing in the Kishtwar forest range during an operation hampered by severe weather and whiteout conditions; their bodies were later recovered.
On September 19, an army soldier critically injured in an encounter in the Dudu Basantgarh area of Udhampur district succumbed to his injuries.
Data from the South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP) shows that 42 suspected militants have been killed in encounters across Jammu and Kashmir so far in 2025. The same period has also seen the deaths of at least 18 security personnel and 30 civilians in 33 incidents of militancy-related violence across the Union Territory.
A defence spokesperson based in Srinagar said the operation, codenamed ‘Op Pimple’, began after suspicious movement was detected during search operations.
Reinforcements were immediately dispatched to block possible escape routes, and in the ensuing exchange of fire, two suspected militants were shot dead, he added.
“Search of the area in progress,” the Srinagar-based Chinar Corps said in a post on X, indicating that the operation was continuing.
Authorities have not yet disclosed the identities or affiliations of those killed. It also remains unclear whether their bodies have been recovered or if any arms or materials were seized from the site.
Saturday’s operation comes nearly a month after security forces killed two suspected militants in another encounter, codenamed ‘Op Amar’, in the Macchail sector of Kupwara district on October 14.
According to security officials, infiltration attempts typically rise along the 700-kilometre LoC before the onset of harsh winter, when heavy snowfall renders mountain passes impassable.
Earlier incidents this year have also underscored the risks faced by security personnel in the region. In October, two soldiers went missing in the Kishtwar forest range during an operation hampered by severe weather and whiteout conditions; their bodies were later recovered.
On September 19, an army soldier critically injured in an encounter in the Dudu Basantgarh area of Udhampur district succumbed to his injuries.
Data from the South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP) shows that 42 suspected militants have been killed in encounters across Jammu and Kashmir so far in 2025. The same period has also seen the deaths of at least 18 security personnel and 30 civilians in 33 incidents of militancy-related violence across the Union Territory.
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