JAMMU, Sept 13: Ahead of tomorrow’s election rally by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Doda, two Army soldiers, one of them a Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO), were martyred and two others were injured in neighbouring Kishtwar district in an encounter with terrorists.
The gunfight broke out when a joint security party of the Army and police, acting on a tip-off, launched a cordon-and-search operation in Pingnad Naidgham in Chatroo area of Kishtwar district.
Two Army soldiers who were martyred have been identified as Naib Subedar Vipan Kumar, a resident of village Patrara in Sunderbani area of Rajouri district and Sepoy Arvind Singh of Hamirpur, Himachal Pradesh.
Injured include Sepoy Musadiq Shafiq and Sepoy Shail Thakur.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to address an election rally in Doda tomorrow.
The officials said there was an exchange of fire between the search team of the security forces and the terrorists hiding in the Pingnad Naidgham located within the Chhatroo police station limits.
Four Army personnel were injured in the gun battle and two of them later succumbed to the injuries, the officials said, adding one of the soldiers died of the splinter injuries caused by a grenade explosion and another of a bullet injury in the head.
The Army also confirmed the martyrdom of the two soldiers.
“GOC (General Officer Commanding) White Knight Corps and all ranks salute the supreme sacrifice of the bravehearts; offer deepest condolences to the families,” the Army said.
Earlier, the Army had said contact was established and the search party exchanged a heavy volume of fire with the terrorists around 3:30 pm.
“In the ensuing firefight four army personnel have been injured. The operation is in progress,” the Jammu-based White Knight Corps said in a post on X.
The officials said the injured soldiers were airlifted to an Army hospital after preliminary treatment at a local hospital.
The encounter comes two days after the Army, in a successful operation, neutralized two Pakistani terrorists affiliated with the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) outfit in the higher reaches of Basantgarh in Udhampur district.
