Four soldiers including a Captain ranked Army officer killed on duty during an encounter with terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir’s Doda district. According to officials, the encounter began when troops from the Rashtriya Rifles, along with the Special Operations Group of the J-K Police, initiated a joint cordon and search operation on Monday evening.
This operation took place at Dhari Gote Urarbagi, located in the Desa forest area. The search commenced around 7:45 pm on July 15, as the forces aimed to track down and apprehend suspected militants in the region.
Earlier the officials said four army personnel, including the officer, were “critically” injured in the exchange of fire which initially lasted for over 20 minutes. They were evacuated to the hospital where they succumbed to their injuries, the officials said.
The Army said that additional troops were moved into the area and the operation was continuing when reports last came in. The operation was launched on an input about the presence of terrorists, the officials said.
Last week, the security forces had tightened their cordon around a forest area in the higher reaches of Doda district following an encounter with hiding terrorists. The Army earlier neutralised three foreign terrorists trying to infiltrate across the Line of Control (LoC) in Kupwara’s Keran sector.
The gunfight between the two sides began in the Ghadi Bhagwah forest on July 9, 35 km east of Doda town bordering Kishtwar district, this evening when police assisted by the Army launched a joint search and cordon operation after a tipoff about the presence of terrorists in the area, the officials said.
Following spurt in incidents of terror attacks and reports about movement of terrorists from different places in Jammu division, the police and security forces have launched joint combing and search operations at a massive scale in various parts of the division.