Latest incident comes three days after five army personnel were killed in gun-battle with militants in same area
Two army personnel, including a Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO), were killed in an encounter with militants at Bhattaduria near Surankote in Poonch district of Jammu, officials said on Friday. It was not immediately clear if any militant had been killed or injured in the ongoing gun-battle.
Thursday night’s encounter was the second such incident within a week in Jammu and Kashmir. On October 11, an army officer and four soldiers were killed in a gun-battle between security forces and militants in same area of the Poonch sector.
Following the October 11 incident, the army had launched a combing operation to track down the militants involved in the encounter around the Dehra Ki Gali area. On Thursday evening, another encounter ensued, leading to the fresh casualties.
Jammu-based army spokesman said, “In an ongoing counter-terrorist operation in general area Narkhas forest, Mendhar area of Poonch, there has been exchange of fire between army troops and terrorists during evening hours on Thursday”.
“During the ensuing exchange of fire one JCO and one soldier have been critically injured. The operations are under progress,” he added. Another official later confirmed the deaths.