An officer was among four army personnel killed in an encounter with heavily-armed terrorists in Doda district's Desa forest belt, Jammu and Kashmir, during the wee hours of Tuesday. Another soldier was critically injured in the firefight.
The gunfight took place on Monday at 7.45 pm when the troops launched a cordon and search operation at Dhari Gote Urarbagi which is around 55 km from the town. The operation was led by a joint team of the Rashtriya Rifles and the Special Operations Group of J&K Police.
The terrorists who tried to escape after a exchange of fire were tracked down by the troops led by an officer. "Contact with terrorists was established tonight at about 2100h in which heavy firefight ensued," posted the official X handle of 16 Corps, Indian Army. The post added that additional troops have been moved into the area and the operations are continuing.
X handles purportedly belonging to Jaish-e-Mohammad's (JeM) shadow terror outfit Kashmir Tigers has claimed responsibility for the terror attack. THE WEEK cannot independently verify this claim and the officials are yet to confirm it. They had earlier claimed responsibility for the July 8 ambush attack in Kathua where five Army personnel were killed.
The existence of Kashmir Tigers first came to light in January 2021 following the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir. They had reportedly attacked a police bus in Sringar, killing three soldier and injuring several others.This came after police recovered old-rusted arms and ammunition from a terrorist hideout in Dalantop area of Shikari, in Reasi district. These included 30 rounds of AK-47, one magazine of AK-47 rifle and one HE-36 hand grenade.
The Army earlier neutralised three foreign terrorists trying to infiltrate across the Line of Control (LoC) in Kupwara's Keran sector.