Four Army personnel, including two Captains, were martyred and two others were injured during an encounter between security forces and a group of well-entrenched terrorists in the Solki forest area of Kalakote in Rajouri district on Wednesday.

Another senior officer was evacuated to the Command Hospital in Udhampur after sustaining bullet injuries to his arm and chest.

The fierce gunfight was going on in the area with the induction of more troops to neutralise two terrorists trapped there, officials said.

The Army authorities had not issued any official statement to confirm the number of death till late at night.

However, the Nagrota-based White Knight Corps posted a brief statement on X (previously Twitter), stating, “Based on specific intelligence, joint operations were launched in the Kalakote Area and Gulabgarh forest in Rajouri district on November 19. Contact was established on November 22, leading to an intense firefight. The terrorists have been injured and surrounded, and operations are in progress. Our bravehearts are displaying acts of valour and sacrifice, striving to prevent collateral damage to women and children in the highest traditions of the Indian Army. White Knight Corps salutes their supreme sacrifice.”

The security forces are proceeding cautiously to prevent any further loss of life while neutralising the terrorists.

The suspected movement of terrorists was detected in the area four days ago. Subsequently, a high alert was issued, and search operations commenced in the general vicinity of Kalakote.

Ground reports indicated that the security forces encountered heavy gunfire during the search operations in the Solki forest area of Kalakote, based on specific information about the presence of a group of heavily armed terrorists.

The initial contact between the security forces and the concealed terrorists was reported around 9 am on Wednesday.

One of the Army officers sustained fatal injuries in the initial round of firing. Subsequently, elite Para commandos were swiftly deployed into the forest area to flush out the terrorists positioned in safe hideouts within the densely forested area. They targetted the elite commandos also.