5 soldiers killed in gunfight with terrorists in J&K

A group of heavily-armed militants have reportedly managed to sneak from across the LoC and are hiding in Chamrer forest

In one of the bloodiest encounters this year, five army soldiers, including an officer, were killed during an ongoing anti-insurgency operation in Jammu and Kashmir’s border Poonch district on Monday.

The operation was launched in a village close to Dera Ki Gali in Surankote, Poonch during the early hours of Monday following inputs about the presence of terrorists, who had infiltrated from across the Line of Control (LoC), Jammu-based Army spokesman Lt. Col. Devender Anand said.

“The hiding terrorists opened heavy fire on the search parties resulting in critical injuries to a Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) and four other ranks. They died from their injuries,” he said.

Two unidentified militants were also reportedly killed in the gun battle, which has now spread to Bhangai village of neighboring Rajouri district, adjacent to the earlier site where forces and militants exchanged gunfire.

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“The entire operation area is the same but half of it falls in Poonch and half in Rajouri district jurisdiction,” a police official said. “Fresh contact has been established in Bhangai village of Rajouri and intermittent firing is going on.”

Reinforcements of both army and police, including senior officers, have rushed to the spot to plug all escape routes to ensure the militants don’t flee, reports said. Preliminary reports suggested that a group of five to six heavily armed militants may be hiding in the area.

The slain soldiers were identified as Naik Subedar Jaswinder Singh from Kapurthala, Naik Mandeep Singh from Gurdaspur, Sepoy Gajjan Singh from Ropar, Sepoy Vaisakh from Kollam and Sepoy Saraj Singh from Shahjahanpur, UP.

The twin border districts of Rajouri and Poonch in Jammu region have witnessed a rise in infiltration attempts since June this year, resulting in the killing of nine militants in separate encounters. Three soldiers also laid down their lives in the previous operations.

The fresh encounter comes after a series of targeted attacks left seven civilians dead in the Kashmir Valley last week.

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