A junior commissioned officer (JCO) was among five soldiers killed in an exchange of fire with heavily armed terrorists in a forested area at Surankote in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K)’s Poonch district.
According to army spokesman Lieutenant Col Devender Anand, the ultras opened heavy fire on the search parties resulting in critical injuries to the JCO and four other ranks.
“The critically injured JCO and four jawans were evacuated to the nearest medical facility but succumbed to their injuries. The operation is still going on.”
Officials said there are reports about the presence of a group of heavily-armed terrorists in the Chamrer forest, after they managed to sneak from across the Line of Control (LoC). Reinforcements have been rushed to the area to plug all escape routes of the terrorists.
“The terrorists fired at the joint patrol party, which was retaliated leading to the encounter. Teams of police and Army rushed to the spot after receiving this information and the entire area has been cordoned,” the official said, adding that the firing is going on between two sides.
