Three Suspected Pakistani Militants Killed in Kashmir Gunfight, India Says

Three suspected Pakistani militants linked to an April attack in Pahalgam were killed by Indian forces in a joint operation in Dachigam, Kashmir. India confirmed their ties to the terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba and used forensic evidence to link their weapons to the earlier killings of 26 civilians. This marks the second major security operation since the April attack.

Three suspected militants were killed in a gunfight in India-administered Kashmir, according to a statement by India’s Home Minister Amit Shah to the lower house of parliament on Tuesday.

The operation took place more than three months after gunmen attacked tourists in the town of Pahalgam in India-administered Kashmir.

Shah stated that all three militants involved in the gunfight were killed. “I want to tell the parliament those who attacked in Baisaran were three terrorists and all three have been killed,” he said.

He added that Indian security agencies had gathered detailed evidence confirming their involvement in the earlier attack. Forensic analysis had established that the rifles recovered from the suspects were the same ones used in the April incident. “It was confirmed that these three rifles were involved in killing of our innocent civilians,” Shah said.

According to him, the militants were Pakistani nationals and were responsible for the attack in Pahalgam in April. He identified two of them as members of Lashkar-e-Taiba, a terrorist group designated by the United Nations and based in Pakistan.

The gunfight occurred on Monday in the mountainous area of Dachigam, located northeast of Srinagar, the region’s main city. The Indian army posted on social media that “three terrorists have been neutralized in an intense firefight.”

Police Inspector-General Vidhi Birdi confirmed it was a joint operation involving the military, paramilitary, and police.

This operation follows the April attack on tourists near the resort town of Pahalgam, where 26 people—mostly Hindu men—were killed. Following that attack, India accused Pakistan of supporting the assailants, a claim Pakistan strongly denied. The incident triggered the worst military tensions between the two countries in decades, leading to a four-day conflict marked by cross-border strikes and the deaths of dozens before a ceasefire was reached in May.

Monday’s gunfight is the second major such encounter since April. In May, the Indian army said it had killed three other suspected militants in a similar operation.