Rajouri/Jammu: Four Army personnel, including two captains, were killed and two others were injured during an encounter between security forces and terrorists in Rajouri district on Wednesday, officials said.
“The fierce gunfight was going on in the area with the induction of more troops to neutralise two terrorists trapped there,” they said.
Officials said two captains, a havildar and a jawan have lost their lives during the encounter.
A major and another jawan suffered injuries in the encounter, they said, adding the injured have been shifted to the Army’s Command Hospital in Udhampur.
The encounter broke out between terrorists and joint forces of the Army and the police in the Bajimaal area of Dharmsal following a cordon-and-search operation, the police said.
In a post on X, the White Knight Corps of the Army said that based on specific intelligence, joint operations were launched in the Kalakote area of Gulabgarh forest 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,” it said.
Officials said the operation has been intensified with the induction of additional troops.
Local residents said 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 back at home and not venture out. Our children stayed back at home and did not attend the school,” a villager said.
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 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.
“Heartbreaking to see officers & jawans lose their lives in the line of duty despite GOIs misleading false claims that all is well in J&K. The price of this facade is being borne by them & innocent civilians who’ve become collateral damage in unabated violence. My deepest sympathies with their families & loved ones,” PDP President Mehbooba Mufti posted on X.
“Terrible news from Rajouri where 4 army personnel including 2 officers have laid down their lives in the line of duty. While condemning the continuing efforts to spread militancy into hitherto peaceful areas of Pir Panchal region I send my sincere condolences to the families of those who offered the ultimate sacrifice today,” NC Vice President Omar Abdullah posted on X.
The latest encounter in Rajouri comes close on the heels of another gunfight in Behrote in Budhal area on November 17, in which one terrorist was killed.
Two earlier ambushes in the Mendhar area of Poonch and Kandi forest of Rajouri on April 20 and May 05 respectively had claimed the lives of 10 soldiers.
According to officials, 46 deaths have been recorded in terrorism-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.
