Army officer killed, 3 jawans injured in encounter in J&K
What's the story
An Indian Army officer was killed and there paratroopers sustained injuries while engaging with suspected cross-border terrorists in the Chaas area of Kishtwar, Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday. In a post on X, the army's 16 Corps said the Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) Naib Subedar Rakesh Kumar was killed in action in a joint counter-terror operation. The confrontation began around 11:00am when joint search parties of the Army and police apprehended terrorists in the Keshwan forest.
Operation details
Kishtwar encounter targets suspected terrorists
This group is believed to be responsible for killing two Village Defence Guards on November 18, J&K police said. Th bodies of VDGs Nazir Ahmad and Kuldeep Kumar were found riddled with bullets near the Keshwan forest last week. "Encounter begins at Keswan-Kistwar between terrorists and security forces. Three or four terrorists believed to be trapped," said a police spokesperson.
Srinagar operation
Srinagar encounter follows specific intelligence
In the other incident in Srinagar, a gunfight broke out around 9:00am during a cordon and search operation in the forest area between Dachigam and the upper reaches of Nishat. "A joint police and security forces operation was launched in Zabarwan forest area of Srinagar based on specific intelligence about presence of terrorists," Jammu and Kashmir officials tweeted. No casualties have been reported from this encounter so far.
Rising tension
Recent encounters escalate in Jammu and Kashmir
Notably, Jammu and Kashmir has seen several gunfights in recent times, killing many terrorists and security personnel. On Saturday, a terrorist was killed in Sopore in retaliatory firing by security forces. Two terrorists were killed on Friday in Baramulla in an anti-terror combing operation. Earlier this month, three terrorists including wanted Lashkar-e-Taiba 'commander' Usman Lashkari were killed in two separate operations.