Army officer killed, 3 others injured in gunfight with terrorists in Jammu & Kashmir's Kishtwar

Srinagar: A junior commissioned commissioner (JCO) of Army's Special Forces was killed, while three soldiers were injured in an ongoing encounter with terrorists in a remote forest area of Kishtwar district in Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday.

Four Army personnel sustained injuries during the initial exchange of fire, officials said. They were shifted to an army hospital, where one succumbed to his injuries and three were reported to be in a critical condition.

The deceased soldier, identified as Naib Subedar Rakesh Kumar of 2 Para Special Forces, was part of joint operation launched in Bhart Ridge in Kishtwar following the recent killing of two village defence guards (VDGs).

Army’s White Knight Corps in a post on X wrote: “#GOC #WhiteknightCorps and all ranks salute the supreme sacrifice of #Braveheart, Nb Sub Rakesh Kumar of 2 Para (SF). Sub Rakesh was part of a joint #CT operation launched in general area of # Bhart Ridge #Kishtwar on 09 Nov 2024. We stand with bereaved family in this hour of grief.”

The encounter broke out when the joint search teams of the Army and police intercepted hiding terrorists at around 11 am, officials said. The operation in the forests of Kuntwara and Keshwan was going on in Keshwan forest, near where the bodies of VDGs Nazir Ahmad and Kuldeep Kumar were found with gunshot wounds since Thursday evening.

The terrorists cornered by the security forces are suspected to be behind the killing of Ahmad and Kumar. A large-scale search operation was still underway in the area to pinpoint the terrorists' exact location, reports said.

A separate encounter erupted between security forces and militants in the forest area of Ishber-Nishat on the outskirts of Srinagar city on Sunday.

A police official said that a joint team of security forces launched a cordon-and-search-operation in the upper reaches of Ishber-Nishat on specific information about the presence of militants in the area late Saturday evening.

“Contact was established with the hiding terrorists this morning and a gunbattle broke out around 9 am in the forest area connecting Dachigam and upper reaches of Nishat area here,” he said.

Two to three foreign terrorists are believed to be trapped in the area and heavy firing is going on, he added.

Security forces have intensified operations against the militants in the recent weeks following a number of attacks carried out by the terrorists on civilians and the army.

In the first nine days of November, eight terrorists were killed during six operations across Kashmir. On Saturday a foreign terrorist was killed during an encounter with security forces in the Rajpora area on the outskirts of Sopore in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district.

Two terrorists were killed in a Sagipora, Sopore encounter on Friday while two local militants were killed in Shangus, Anantnag and a foreign LeT commander was killed in Srinagar’s Khanyar area.

A foreign terrorist was killed in Bandipora forests earlier this week while another foreign terrorist was killed during an encounter in Lolab forest.