Four soldiers and a militant were killed in two fierce encounters along the line of Control (loC) in north Kashmir’s Kupwara district on Monday. The operation to flush out militants in the area continued till last reports came in.
Defence spokesperson in Srinagar lt Col NN Joshi said that four soldiers were killed in an encounter with militants in Hafrada forests of Handwara in Kupwara district. The area is in vicinity of the loC but it was not clear whether the attackers were new infiltrators or were active in the area for quite some time.
Joshi said the operation in Hafrada was launched on the basis of specific information regarding the presence of some terrorists. “A joint operation was launched by the Army and the J&K Police on Sunday evening. Around midnight, as the security forces approached the suspected area, they came under a heavy volume of fire. In the intense encounter that ensued, four Army soldiers were martyred,” Joshi said in a statement.
One of the slain soldiers was missing in the area for several hours but later his body was found in the dense forest.
Three of the four slain soldiers have been identified as lance Naik Gurdev Singh and Sepoys Surender and Buta Satyam.
In another encounter in lolab area of the same sector, one unidentified terrorist was killed and one AK 47 Rifle was recovered from the encounter site. The operation to flush out militants in both the areas in Handwara sector was in progress, the spokesman added.
Chief Minister Mufti Muhammad Sayeed expressed grief over the death of four soldiers. In his message of condolence, Sayeed expressed sympathies with the bereaved families of the soldiers and prayed for eternal peace to the departed souls.
Meanwhile, 29 security personnel and 20 civilians have been killed in different militancy related incidents in the state this year.
In a written reply to a question by National Conference member Mian Altaf Ahmad, Minister in-charge Home Affairs said in State Assembly that six security personnel were killed and 14 were injured in cross border firing along the loC and International Border in the State during 2015 so far.
He said during entire last year only four security personnel had lost their lives and 16 others were wounded in such firing.
The reply said 14 civilians were killed and 61 others, including women and children, were injured in the Pakistan troops’ firing this year against 14 deaths and 101 injured last year. The Minister said 29 security personnel were killed and 71 others were wounded in different militancy related incidents up to September 22 this year. However, 47 security personnel had lost their lives and 84 were wounded in 2015 when 35 civilians were killed and 70 others were wounded in the militancy related incidents.