Four Army soldiers including an officer died during a gunfight in a forest area in Doda district of Jammu and Kashmir on Monday night while another security personnel remain critically injured.
Troops of the Rashtriya Rifles and Special Operations Group of Jammu and Kashmir Police launched a joint cordon and search operation at Dhari Gote Urarbagi in the Desa forest belt, some 55 km from Doda town, late on Monday evening when the encounter took place.
An exchange of fire took place between security personnel and militants on Monday evening for 20 minutes. After the brief exchange of fire, the militants tried to escape but were chased by the troops led by an officer despite the challenging terrain and thick foliage, they said, adding this led to another firefight around 9 pm on Monday.
Five soldiers were critically injured in the encounter. Four of them, including the officer, later succumbed to injuries.
This was the third major encounter between security forces and militants in the forests of Doda district in the past three weeks.
The officials said the Army and police mobilized reinforcements on Monday night itself and launched a fresh search of the area with more troops on Tuesday morning.
They said there was no fresh contact with the terrorists on Tuesday who are believed to have infiltrated from across the border and been hiding in the forest area for the past couple of months.
A police spokesperson confirmed the exchange of fire between the security forces and militants in the Desa forest area but said that “further details are awaited.”
He added, "Based on specific intelligence inputs, a joint operation by Indian Army and JKP was in progress in the general area North of Doda."
He continued to say that the troops were able to contact with the attackers around 2100 h (9 pm) on Monday in which heavy firefight ensued.
"Additional troops have been moved into the area. Operations are continuing," the Army's 16 Corps, also known as White Knight Corps, posted on X.
This Doda encounter with loss of four lives becomes the second major incident after the recent kathua incident in which five army men were killed and five others wounded.
This also follows a high-level meeting between Punjab police and J&K police last week which was convened to tackle mechanism how to counter growing terror in Jammu Punjab border region.
Following rising rising terror incidents a high-level interstate co-ordination meeting between BSF, J&K Police, Central Agencies and Punjab Police was held in Kathua on July 11 at the Kathua police lines. The meeting was held to focus on enhancing border security and synergy between the two State Police Forces and the Border Guarding forces.
Army Chief Briefs Defence Minister On The Situation
Chief of Army Staff Gen Upendra Dwivedi on Tuesday briefed Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on the anti-terror operation in Jammu and Kashmir's Doda district.
The defence minister's office said he spoke to Gen Dwivedi this morning.
"Raksha Mantri Shri @rajnathsingh spoke to CoAs, General Upendra Dwivedi this morning. RM was apprised of the ground situation and the ongoing Counter Terrorist Op in Doda by the Army Chief," Singh's office said on X.
Union Minister Jitendra Singh reacting to the Doda encounter killings stated, "Deeply disturbed by the reports of armed encounter in Dessa area of district #Doda in my Lok Sabha constituency. Words fall short of condoling and condemning the martyrdom of our Bravehearts."
Attacks In Jammu Region
The Jammu region, which remained relatively peaceful between 2005 and 2021 after security forces wiped out decades-long terrorism, witnessed a spike in terror attacks over the past month. It included an attack on a pilgrim bus that left nine persons dead and 40 injured.
Terror activities resurfaced in October 2021 from the twin border districts of Poonch and Rajouri. Some of the deadly attacks that spread to Reasi, Kathua and Doda were attributed by the security establishment as an attempt by Pakistani handlers to revive terrorism in the Jammu region.
Over 70 people, including 52 security personnel -- mostly from the Army -- have been killed in terror-related incidents in the Jammu region since 2021. Most of the casualties were from Rajouri and Poonch districts where 54 terrorists were also eliminated, the officials said.
Three terrorists were also killed in Reasi district and two others in Kathua district, they added.
(With PTI inputs)
