4 Army personnel killed, 2 injured in encounter with terrorists in J&K’s Rajouri

Four Army personnel, including two captains, were killed and two others were injured during an encounter between security forces and terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir’s Rajouri district on Wednesday, officials said.

The fierce gunfight was going on in the area with the induction of more troops to neutralise two terrorists trapped there, they said.

Officials said two captains, a havildar and a jawan have lost their lives during the encounter.

A major and another jawan suffered injuries in the encounter, they said, adding the injured have been shifted to the Army’s Command Hospital in Udhampur.

The encounter broke out between terrorists and joint forces of the Army and the Jammu and Kashmir Police in the Bajimaal area of Dharmsal following a cordon-and-search operation, the police said.

In a post on X, the White Knight Corps of the Army said that based on specific intelligence, joint operations were launched in the Kalakote area of Gulabgarh forest in Rajouri on Sunday.

“Contact established on 22 Nov and intense firefight ensued. The terrorists have been injured and surrounded and operations are in progress, amidst acts of valour and sacrifice by own bravehearts in trying to prevent collateral damage to women and children in the highest traditions of IndianArmy. #Whiteknightcorps salutes the supreme sacrifice,” it said.

Officials said the operation has been intensified with induction of additional troops.

Local residents said that a cordon-and-search operation has been going on in the area since Sunday to track down terrorists operating in the area.

“Due to the operation we were asked to stay back at home and not venture out. Our children stayed back at home and did not attend the school,” a villager said.

The firing is going on in the forest area close to the village, he said.

Officials said the two terrorists trapped at the encounter site in Bajimaal appeared to be foreign nationals and had been moving around in the area since Sunday. They even took shelter at a place of worship, they said.