NEW DELHI: At least one terrorist was killed in an encounter after the security forces carried out Operation Akhal in Jammu and Kashmir‘s Kulgam district.According to Chinar Corps of the Army, the operation, which started on Friday, continued overnight as troops responded with calibrated fire.“OP AKHAL, Kulgam. Intermittent and intense firefight continued through the night. Alert troops responded with calibrated fire and tightened the noose while maintaining contact,” Chinar Corps wrote in a social media post on X.“One terrorist has been neutralised by the security forces so far. Operation continues,” the post added on X.The gunfight broke out on Friday evening in the Akhal Khulsan forest area after joint teams of the Army, J&K Police, and Special Operations Group launched a combing operation, based on intelligence inputs about the presence of three to five terrorists.According to officials, the identity and group affiliation of the slain terrorist are being ascertained. They added that the operation is still underway.Security forces have been carrying out aggressive operations against terrorists in the hinterland, while the Army has been on maximum alert guarding the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir.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 at the foot of the Mahadev mountain peak in the Harwan area of Srinagar.The Army code-named this operation Operation Mahadev. After the Pahalgam terror attack, the security forces have been carrying out anti-terrorist operations against gun-wielding terrorists, their overground workers (OGWs), and sympathisers.Drug smugglers and drug peddlers are also on the radar of the security forces, as it is believed that the funds generated by hawala money rackets and drug smuggling are 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 solely on the elimination of gun-wielding terrorists.