In separate gun battles in Jammu’s Rajouri and Kashmir’s Pulwama and Kulgam, two army personnel, including a Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO), and six militants were killed, amid increasing search and destroy operations.
To mark the fifth year since militant commander Burhan Wani was killed by security forces, a shutdown was observed on Thursday, 8 July, in parts of the Valley.
In Rajouri, during an operation by security forces to counter infiltration, Naib Subedar Sreejith M and Sepoy Maruprolu Jaswanth Reddy were killed in a gunbattle at Daddal village in the Sunderbani sector, reported Indian Express, quoting sources.
Two “foreign terrorists” from Pakistan were gunned down in the incident while another soldier was injured, officials said.
In successive encounters following a search operation in Kashmir, four other militants were killed, officials said.
Rajouri
An encounter took place after security forces came across a group of militants in Rajouri, who had recently infiltrated from across the border.
The army has been engaged in extensive search operations in the area since 29 June, following the drone attack at an Indian Air Force base in Jammu on 27 June.
Following information received about the presence of militants on Wednesday, a “search and destroy” patrol seeking “proactive engagement with the terrorists was launched” in the Dadal forest area, army spokesperson Lt Colonel Devender Anand was quoted as saying.
He added, “The terrorists, on being challenged, opened fire and lobbed hand grenades. The troops retaliated, leading to a fierce encounter in which two foreign terrorists from Pakistan were killed,” Indian Express reported.
Pulwama
After receiving inputs about the presence of militants on Wednesday, a joint team of J&K Police, Army and CRPF launched a “cordon and search” operation in Puchal village in Pulwama. Officials said that the militants tried to break the cordon by lobbing grenades and opening fire, which led to a gunfight in which two of them were killed.
The slain militants, both residents of Pulwama district, were identified by the police as Kifayat Ramzan and Inayat Ahmad Dar and were said to be affiliated to the Al Badr outfit.
Kulgam
As per officials, another gunbattle took place in Kulgam a few hours later, where a joint team of police, Army and CRPF, based on inputs on the movement of militants, had laid out checkpoints at Zadora village of Qazigund.
In a statement, J&K police said that “when a suspicious vehicle was signalled to stop”, two militants “came out from the vehicle and started firing indiscriminately. However, the alert party retaliated effectively, leading to the elimination of two terrorists on the spot,” Indian Express reported.
The two militants killed were said to be associated with Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) and were identified by the police as Nasir Ahmad Pandith of Redwani Kulgam and Shahbaz Ahmad Shah of Katrusu Kulgam.
Seek and destroy missions in Jammu and Kashmir and along the LoC have been stepped up, especially after the drone attack.
Lt General DP Pandey, Corps Commander of the 15 Corps in Srinagar, had earlier said that the technology used in the drone strikes indicated "state-support" and involvement of Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed and LeT, NDTV reported.
(With inputs from The Indian Express and NDTV)
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