JAMMU: Two Captains were among four Army personnel killed and two others injured during the night-long encounter between the security forces and militants in Kalakote area of Rajouri district in Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday, according to local officials.
The army sources in Jammu said that the fierce gun-fight was going on in the area with induction of reinforcements needed to neutralize two militants trapped there. The number of militants trapped in the area is suspected to be more and suspected to be six, local news gathering agencies in Srinagar said.
Local officials said two Captains, a havildar and a jawan have lost their lives during the encounter that started on Tuesday evening.
An Army Major and another jawan suffered injuries in the encounter, the officials said, adding that the injured have been shifted to the Army’s Command Hospital in Udhampur.
“The encounter started between terrorists and joint forces of the Army and the Jammu and Kashmir Police in village Bajimaal of Dharmsal following a cordon-and-search operation in the area,” the police said.
In a post on ‘X’ (Formerly Twitter), the White Knight Corps of the Army said that based on specific intelligence inputs, joint operations were launched in the Kalakote area of Gulabgarh forests in Rajouri on Sunday.
“Contact established on 22 Nov and intense firefight ensued. The terrorists have been injured and surrounded and operations are in progress, amidst acts of valour and sacrifice by own bravehearts in trying to prevent collateral damage to women and children in the highest traditions of IndianArmy. #Whiteknightcorps salutes the supreme sacrifice,” the post on ‘X’ said.
Local officials said that the operation has been intensified and enlarged with induction of additional troops.
The encounter started after army’s special forces and police launched a joint operation following specific intelligence inputs about the presence of terrorists in the forest area, NDTV reported.
Three of the deceased have been identified as Captain MV Pranjal of 63 Rashtriya Rifles and Captain Shubham and Havildar Majid of 9 PARA, Indian Express reported.
The report said that the militants are believed to be six in number.
The report said the militant group appear to be a fresh group that recently infiltrated from across the Line of Control.
The Pir Panjal forests in Jammu and Kashmir have proved to be a challenge for the security forces in the last few years following a series of encounters, the report mentioned.
“The terrorists use the dense forests to conceal their positions, taking advantage of the topography. Terrorists take advantage of treacherous mountains, dense jungles and the alpine forests to hide their positions,” it stated.
Local residents were quoted by the local news gathering agencies as saying that “a cordon-and-search operation has been going on in the area since Sunday to track down terrorists operating in the area.”
“Due to the operation we were asked to stay indoors and not venture out. Our children stayed back at home and did not attend the school,” a villager told the news agency PTI.
The firing is going on in the forest area close to the village, he said.
Officials said the “two terrorists trapped at the encounter site in village Bajimaal appeared to be foreign nationals and had been moving around in the area since Sunday.”
They even took shelter at a place of worship, they said.
The latest encounter in Rajouri comes close on the heels of another one in village Behrote in Budhal area on November 17, in which one terrorist was killed.
Two earlier ambushes in Mendhar area of Poonch district and Kandi forests of Rajouri on April 20 and May 5 respectively had claimed the lives of 10 soldiers.
According to officials, at least 46 deaths were recorded in terror-related incidents in the twin border districts of Rajouri and Poonch and nearby Reasi district since January this year.
While 23 people, including seven terrorists and nine security personnel, were killed in Rajouri, 15 terrorists and five security personnel have been killed in Poonch district.
Three terrorists were killed in Reasi district.
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