A day after the ongoing twin gunfights in south Kashmir’s Kulgam district in which six terrorists were killed and two soldiers martyred , another soldier was injured on Sunday when terrorists attacked an Army camp in the border area of Manjakote in the Rajouri district of Jammu.
Two more bodies of terrorists were recovered this morning at the encounter site in the Kulgam district, reports said.
Amid multiple encounters in J&K, terrorists attacked a sentry post of an Army camp early morning, injuring a soldier who had been evacuated to the military hospital. The terror attack came at about 4 am at a Territorial Army camp in the Galuthi village.
Initial reports indicate that terrorists attacked the Army camp, which was thwarted by a vigilant sentry who retaliated, causing the militants to flee. The exchange of fire continued for 30 minutes between the two sides but the terrorists managed to escape into the nearby forest.
The Army and police have launched a manhunt to trace the attackers who are believed to have escaped into a thick forest area nearby. Further details are awaited.
The soldiers killed in the gunfights in Kulgam have been identified as Lance Naik Pardeep Nain, a Para Commando, who was killed in Modergam, while Sepoy Pravin Janjal Prabhakar of the 01 Rashtriya Rifles (RR) lost his life in Frisaal.
Another search operation was launched this afternoon in the Arwani area following intelligence inputs on a terror hideout. This is the third operation in the Kulgam district, alongside the ongoing encounters in Chitrigam and Madergam villages.
Describing the killing of these terrorists as a “milestone”, the J&K DGP RR Swain said; “Without any doubt, this is a big milestone for strengthening the security environment. This is an indication of security architecture and people’s participation in human intelligence flow. It shows that the fight will reach a logical conclusion. Such successes will keep on coming. We will win it with the support of all the security forces along with the people. Operations are going on. When it concludes, we will be able to talk with a lot of clarity. Numbers don’t show the exact security situation, we take everything very seriously. There is a concern as it has started again, but there is no support for terrorists. We expect peace.”
Meanwhile, General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the Srinagar based Chinar Corps, Lt. General Rajiv Ghai and J&K Chief Secretary Atal Dullo, among others, paid homage to Lance Naik Pardeep Kumar and Sepoy Pravin Janjal Prabhakar, who made the supreme sacrifice in the line of duty in Kulgam.
It is worth mentioning that a joint team of Jammu and Kashmir Police, Army and paramilitary forces on Saturday cordoned off Modergam village after getting intelligence inputs about the presence of terrorists in the village. As the team zeroed in on the target, the terrorists hiding there opened indiscriminate fire, prompting the forces to retaliate, security sources said. One soldier was killed in this exchange.
Meanwhile, another gunfight broke out at Chingam village after the area was cordoned off on the back of similar intelligence inputs. In this case too, terrorists began to fire when security forces closed in. Four terrorists and a soldier were killed in the gunfight.
The multiple encounters were happening on the sidelines of the ongoing Amarnath pilgrimage in Kashmir.