Security forces gunned down three militants of terror outfit Lashkar-e-Tayiba, including a top commander, on Friday morning in north Kashmir's Sopore town, 54 kms from Srinagar.
A senior police officer said troops of Rashtriya Rifles and the police, acting on specific information, surrounded Seer village in Sopore on Thursday evening.
"As the security forces laid the cordon around the village, militants holed up in an under construction house opened fire at them, triggering a gunfight.
He said a top commander of the outfit identified as Abdullah Babbar was among the slain militants.
The officer said arms and ammunition, including three AK-47 rifles and seven magazines, were recovered from the slain militants.
The forces are still conducting searches in the area, he added.
He said firing exchanges had continued the whole nigh at intermittent intervals.
2 militants killed in Kashmir encounter