Soldier, Two Militants Killed in Encounter in J&K’s Anantnag

A day earlier, an army major was killed during another encounter in the district.

Representative image credit: Reuters

New Delhi: Two militants were killed in Jammu and Kashmir’s Anantnag on Tuesday morning during an encounter with security forces, which also led to the death of a soldier. Two other soldiers were injured in the encounter that took place in the district’s Bijbehara area, India Today reported.

A police official said that another militant – all suspected to be a part of the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed – is believed to hiding in the area, according to an NDTV report.

On Tuesday, security forces launched a search operation based on intelligence inputs. The operation soon turned into an encounter when the suspected militants opened fire at the forces, who then retaliated.

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The police official said one soldier, identified as Anil Jaswal, was injured in the gunbattle and later succumbed to his injuries at a hospital.

The encounter follows another one barely 24 hours prior in Achabal area of Anantnag district, in which an Indian Army major was killed and three soldiers injured.

According to PTI, militants also targeted an army patrol unit with a vehicle fitted with an improvised explosive device in Pulwama district on Monday. Nine soldiers and two civilians were injured in the blast. They are recuperating at a hospital.

The site of the blast was 27 km from the area where a convoy of vehicles carrying CRPF personnel was attacked by a suicide bomber in February in which 40 soldiers were killed.