A jawan of the Indian Army on Saturday was martyred during an encounter with a group of heavily armed terrorists in the South Kashmir district of Kulgam.
Till the time of filing the report, the security forces were engaged with the terrorists at two locations in the valley.
According to a spokesman of the Jammu and Kashmir police, the first gunfight took place in Modergam village of the south Kashmir district after security forces launched a cordon and search operation there following specific inputs about the presence of terrorists.
The terrorists opened fire at the security forces and an encounter broke out.
The officials said a soldier of the Indian Army sustained fatal injuries in the exchange of fire. In another gunfight, contact with terrorists was established in the Frisal Chinnigam area of Kulgam.
“Police and security forces are on the job. Further details shall follow,” Kashmir Zone Police said in a post on X.
Meanwhile, the Director General of Police RR Swain Saturday said the adversary across the border is using foreign mercenaries to create a fear psychosis among the people to sustain terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir.
Interacting with the media in Doda after promoting seven special police officers (SPOs) as constables for their exemplary bravery during a recent anti-terrorist operation in the Gandoh area of the district, the police chief said people are fully cooperating with the security agencies and it is a matter of time when the terrorists start getting eliminated.
Three foreign terrorists were killed in a gunfight in the Gandoh area of the Doda district on June 26. This was the first encounter in Gandoh in more than a decade.
Without naming Pakistan, Swain said, “Our adversary and enemy has posed a challenge, thinking that this is a border area and they can take advantage of it by pushing foreign terrorists to revive militancy by creating fear (among the people).
“They (foreign terrorists) are not in big numbers and we are fully determined to defeat them, like we have done in the past, with the help of other forces and cooperation of the public,” he said.
The DGP said the foreign mercenaries do not belong to anyone and they also do not fall in the ambit of law.
“They are involved in mass killings, taking sheep without paying money and their aim is to create fear and force the public into submission and create disturbance. But it cannot be achieved because the people are with us and we will fight them out,” the DGP said.
“Police and its security partners are fully determined and committed to defeating the terrorists with the active support of village defence guards, SPOs and commoners. It is only a question of time when they will start getting killed, and they will start getting eliminated,” he added.
