Security forces shot dead three militants in two separate encounters while militants made an abortive bid to attack a security picket with a grenade in the Kashmir Valley, official sources said on Wednesday.

Militants hurled a grenade on a security picket at Saraf Kadal in downtown Srinagar [Images] on Monday night, the police said.

But the device fell short of the intended target and no one was injured.

Police said two unidentified militants were killed in a gunfight during a joint search party of police and Central security forces at Sumriyal forests near Lolab in the frontier district of Kupwara on Tuesday night.

In another encounter, a militant of Lashkar-e-Tayiba was killed by security forces at Shokbaba in Bandipora district on Wednesday morning, the sources said.