Srinagar.Police on Monday claimed to have killed three militants in an overnight gunfight at Hakoora area of south Kashmir’s Anantnag district.

Official sources told that a joint team of SOG, army, and CRPF launched a cordon-and-search operation at Hakoora village last night at around 12:30 am.

Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Anantnag Altaf Khan told that the operation was launched based on the specific inputs about the presence of some militants inside a residential house.

As the searches were intensified, some warning shots were fired towards the suspected spot, the group of militants comprising of three members tried to break the cordon and opened fire upon the joint team, SSP said.

The fire was responded triggering off a brief exchange of the gunfight, SSP said, adding that the trio was killed in the retaliatory action.

“The bodies of the trio were recovered along with as many assault rifles,” he said, adding that the deceased belonged to Tehreek-ul-Mujahideen and Hizbul Mujahideen militant outfit.

The officer identified two among the three slain militants as Mohd Esha Fazli @ Esha Roohula of Soura Srinagar and Syed Owais Shafi of Violoo, Kokernag. “The identity of the third militant is yet to be ascertained”.