Ahead of the maiden visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to address an election rally in the land-locked Doda district on Saturday, two soldiers of the Indian army sacrificed their lives while two others received injuries during a counter-terrorism operation in the Chatroo area of Kishtwar on Friday.

In another overnight operation launched in the kreeri area of North Kashmir's Baramulla district, three terrorists were gunned down by the joint team of security forces on Saturday. The security forces were able to neutralise a group of hiding terrorists after identifying their exact locations inside the building with the help of drone cameras. With this, the number of terrorists eliminated in the last three anti terrorist operations have gone up to seven.

Chinar Corps of the Indian army in a post on X confirmed, “Three terrorists have been neutralised by the security forces in the ongoing Operation. Weapons and war-like stores have been recovered. The Chinarcorps has dealt some crippling blows to the terror network in North Kashmir over the past few days with significant recoveries and elimination of terrorists, inspiring confidence and assurance for upcoming events scheduled in the region”.

Before the day ended, another army personnel was injured in an encounter with terrorists attempting to infiltrate across the Line of Control (LoC) in Rajouri district.

According to a spokesman of the Nagrota-based White Knight Corps of the Indian army, “Based on the intelligence inputs, a joint operation with J and K Police was launched in Chatroo at Kishtwar. A contact was established and a scout leading the patrol exchanged heavy volume of fire with the terrorists at around 3.30 pm on Friday.

In the ensuing firefight, four army personnel were injured. Later two soldiers who have been identified as Naib Subedar Vipan Kumar and Sepoy Arvind Singh succumbed to their fatal injuries during treatment at the military hospital.

It is believed these Pakistani terrorists belong to the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) terrorist outfit and were responsible for the terror attack on the Indian army in the Desa forest area of Kishtwar on 16 July.

An Indian army captain along with three other soldiers was 'killed in action' during a fierce firefight in the area.

Meanwhile, the mortal remains of the soldiers were dispatched to their native places after a solemn wreath laying ceremony.

“GOC (General Officer Commanding) White Knight Corps and all ranks salute the supreme sacrifice of the bravehearts; offer deepest condolences to the families,” the Army said.

Naib Subedar Vipan Kumar, hailed from village Patrara in Sunderbani area of Rajouri district and Sepoy Arvind Singh was a resident of Hamirpur, Himachal Pradesh.