Jammu and Kashmir: Soldier Killed During Encounter With Terrorists in Kishtwar District
Srinagar: An army soldier was killed in an ongoing firefight which broke out on Thursday (May 22) between suspected militants and security forces in a forested area of Jammu and Kashmir’s Kishtwar district.
The killing of the soldier is the first casualty suffered by the security forces in combat in J&K following India's Operation Sindoor, in the aftermath of Pahalgam terror attack, and it took place days after six militants were gunned down in two back-to-back encounters in Kashmir Valley.
An army official said that a search operation was launched by a joint team of J&K Police and the army in the hilly Chatroo area of Kishtwar in Jammu division, which shares a border with Anantnag district of south Kashmir.
The official said that additional security forces were deployed in the area after the exchange of gunfire with the militants.
“During the ongoing operation, fierce gunfight is continuing. One of our #Bravehearts sustained grievous injuries in the exchange of fire and has succumbed despite best medical efforts. Operation is in progress,” Jammu-based White Knight Corps said in a post on X.
At the time this report was filed, officials had not confirmed the identity of the slain soldier. Some reports claimed that two more soldiers were injured in the firefight. However, these reports have not been officially confirmed.
The encounter in Kishtwar is taking place at a time when security forces in Jammu and Kashmir are on high alert amid reports of infiltration across the Line of Control and the international border following Operation Sindoor, which targeted suspected terrorist bases in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
Over the last two years, Kishtwar has become a hotspot for militancy, with groups of militants disappearing into its dense forests after carrying out deadly attacks on civilians and security forces. This hilly district is bordered by the districts of Anantnag and Doda.
On September 13 last year, a day ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rally in the adjoining Doda district, two army soldiers were killed in an encounter with militants in the Chatroo area of Kishtwar.
Two members of the Village Defence Guard (VDG), a civil militia that was revived following an increase in militancy in the Jammu region after 2019, were abducted and killed by suspected militants on November 8 last year.
The slain, Nazir Ahmed and Kuldeep Kumar, both Kishtwar residents, had gone to graze cattle when they were reportedly abducted. A photo of the victims was posted on social media platforms purportedly by a Jaish-e-Mohammed shadow outfit, the Kashmir Tigers, claiming that the VDG members were chasing them when they were caught and “executed”.
On November 11 last year, a junior commissioned officer of the army’s special forces was killed in the hilly district while three more army soldiers suffered injuries in the gunfight with militants who managed to flee. Three militants were gunned down in Chatroo and a huge cache of arms and ammunition was recovered by security forces on April 12 this year.
Earlier, six militants were gunned down by security forces within 48 hours in back-to-back encounters in Tral and Pulwama police districts of south Kashmir on May 13. The slain militants were reportedly involved in two major terrorist attacks, including the one in which a German tourist was injured.
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