Security forces on Thursday claimed to have killed five Lashkar militants in a gunfight in the Machaal sector of Jammu and Kashmir’s Kupwara district amid fears of a negative impact of Israel-Palestine conflict on the Union Territory, prompting the administration to sound an alert.

Kashmir’s additional director of police, Vijay Kumar, said five Lashkar-e-Taiba militants were killed in the gunfight that started in the Machaal sector on Thursday.

Kumar said their identification was being ascertained and the search operation was in progress.

The major gunfight came a day after Srinagar’s 15 Corps headquarters hosted a meeting of top officials to discuss the possible fallout of the Middle East crisis in Jammu and Kashmir.

Official sources said the fears of a resurgence of street violence and militancy had necessitated the high-profile meet.

A police officer in Srinagar said there are apprehensions that Pakistan might try to use the crisis in the Middle East to its advantage and “stir up trouble on both militancy and street violence fronts” — thus necessitating the meet.

“We are leaving nothing to chance,” he said.

The Jammu and Kashmir government has betrayed zero tolerance for protests supporting Palestine, locking up Srinagar’s main Jamia Masjid on two consecutive Fridays to prevent anti-Israel protests.

The meeting was chaired by R.R. Bhatnagar, adviser to the lieutenant governor of Jammu and Kashmir, and Lieutenant General Upendra Dwivedi, commander of the army’s Northern Command.

Officials privy to the meeting said top security officials discussed measures undertaken or required to prevent a flare-up in the Valley.

“There are fears of a spurt in infiltration attempts as the number of local recruits has dried up. We are also keeping a watch on streets (to prevent protests supporting Palestinians),” an official said.

Although Jammu and Kashmir has seen some deadly militant attacks this year, official figures reveal the number of new local recruits to militancy has fallen to a mere 10 this year — against 110 last year.

“The officers participating in the meeting expressed cautious optimism so that nothing happening on the Israel-Palestine front has any bearing on the situation here,” the official said.

Pakistan’s envoy to the UN, Munir Akram, on Wednesday tried to equate Kashmir with Palestine.

Akram said Pakistan condemns “terrorism in all its forms and manifestations” but claimed that “under international law, the struggle of people living under foreign occupation for self-determination and national liberation is legitimate and cannot be equated with terrorism”.

The remarks drew a sharp rebuke from deputy permanent representative R. Ravindra, who said he treats such comments as contempt.