Two soldiers killed, two injured in Kishtwar encounter

Jammu, Sept 13 (IANS) Two soldiers were killed while two others were injured on Friday in an encounter between the security forces and the terrorists in J&K’s Kishtwar district.

Officials said two army soldiers identified as Naib Subedar, Vipan Kumar and Sepoy Arvind Singh were killed while two other army soldiers were injured in an encounter in Chatroo village of Kishtwar district.

The injured have been shifted to hospital while reinforcements have been rushed to the spot to augment the strength of the security forces engaged in the anti-terrorist operation.

Earlier, an encounter had started between the security forces and the terrorists in Chatroo village of Kishtwar district when the army and the J&K police started a CASO (Cordon & Search Operation) in the village. As the joint team of security forces came closer to the hiding terrorists, they fired at the security forces triggering an encounter.

Reports said a group of 2 to 3 terrorists of the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) outfit, most likely foreign mercenaries, were trapped inside the cordon.

It must be recalled that 8 Assembly segments spread across Doda, Kishtwar and Ramban districts in the Chenab valley region along with 16 seats in the south Kashmir districts of Anantnag, Pulwama, Shopian and Kulgam are going to polls in the first phase on September 18.

Jammu, Kathua and Samba districts are going to vote in the Second and third phases of J&K elections on September 25 and October 1.

Hilly districts of Poonch, Rajouri, Doda, Kathua, Reasi and Udhampur in the Jammu division have witnessed terrorist ambush attacks against the army, security forces and civilians during the last two months.

After reports that a group of hardcore foreign terrorists, believed to be 40 to 50 in number, are responsible for these attacks, the army deployed over 4,000 trained soldiers drawn from the elite Para commandos and those trained in mountain warfare inside the densely forested areas of those districts.

Terrorists used the element of surprise to carry out ambush attacks and then disappear into the forests of these hilly areas.

The deployment of the army and the CRPF together with the strengthening of the village defence committees (VDCs) managed by local residents, has deprived the terrorists of using the element of surprise to carry out such attacks.

After the security forces started aggressively going after the terrorists both in the Jammu division and the Kashmir Valley, the terrorists are now increasingly being engaged in exchange of firing with the security forces.

“They either get killed during such encounters are remain on the run. This prevents them from surprising the security forces by carrying out sly attacks”, a senior police officer said.