2 militants, army jawan killed in encounter in Kashmir''s Bandipora

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, June 14

Two militants and a soldier were killed on Thursday in an encounter in north Kashmir’s Bandipora district, Army said.

The fierce gunfight broke in the morning at Panar forest in Bandipora, 60 km from here, where a massive anti-militancy operation has been going on since June 9.

“In the ongoing operation, two terrorists were killed and an army soldier was martyred,” Srinagar-based defence spokesman Col Rajesh Kalia said.

The operation is still in progress.

The identities of the slain militants and the soldier could not be established immediately.

The Army has been carrying out massive combing operations in a dense forest area at Panar from Saturday to trace out a group of militants who were hiding in the area after infiltrating into the Indian territory recently.

During the past six days, security forces and militants have exchanged fire on at least six occasions. But each time the militants managed to give security forces the slip in the forest area. The Army, however, maintained a tight cordon around the forest to ensure that militants did not escape.

The first contact with the militants was established on Saturday evening when a patrol party of the Army was fired upon by the militants. This was retaliated and the exchange of fire lasted for a brief time.