Keralite among five soldiers killed in encounter with terrorists in Kashmir

Thiruvananthapuram: Five army personnel, including a Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO), were killed in an encounter with terrorists at Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir on Monday.

H Vaisakh from Kottarakkara Odanavattom was among the five Army personnel who lost their lives in a fierce gunfight with terrorists during an operation.

A defence spokesperson said that mortal remains of Vaisakh will be brought to Kerala on October 13.

The soldiers lost their lives in firing by terrorists in a village close to Dera Ki Gali (DKG) in Surankote area of the border district of Poonch after the Army and police launched a joint operation following intelligence inputs about the presence of ultras who had infiltrated from across the Line of Control (LoC).

During the conduct of the operation, terrorists brought down a heavy volume of fire on Army troops leading to fatal injuries, a defence spokesman said in a statement.

The other soldiers who died during the operation are Naib Subedar (JCO) Jaswinder Singh, a recipient of Sena Medal, Naik Mandeep Singh, Sepoys Gajjan Singh and Saraj Singh.

The terrorists fired indiscriminately on noticing the movement of the army search party, causing critical injuries to the five jawans who later succumbed to their injuries at a nearby military hospital. After the initial encounter, the terrorists fled to nearby Bhangai village, which falls in Rajouri district, and contact was established with them, the officials said, adding the operation to neutralise the terrorists was in progress while all possible escape routes have been plugged. The twin districts of Rajouri and Poonch in the Jammu region have witnessed a rise in infiltration attempts since June this year, resulting in the killing of nine terrorists in separate encounters. Three soldiers also laid down their lives in the previous operations.

Pinarayi, Satheesan condole death
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Leader of the Opposition in the State Assembly V D Satheesan condoled the death of an Army soldier from Kerala's Kollam district in an encounter with terrorists in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir on Monday.

Paying tributes to Vaisakh, the Chief Minister and the Leader of Opposition also joined in the grief of his family.

Satheesan said the nation is indebted to Vaisakh and other brave soldiers for their supreme sacrifice.

Spurt in terrorist attacks
There has been a spurt in terrorist attacks in recent weeks in which several civilians, including a prominent Kashmiri Pandit businessman and a school teacher, were killed. Earlier, security forces had launched a cordon and search operation at Khagund in Anantnag district's Verinag area following information about the presence of militants there, an official said. The search operation turned into an encounter after militants opened fire on the security forces, who retaliated, he said.

The police official said that while one militant had been killed, a policeman suffered injuries. In another encounter, which broke out at Gundjahangir in Bandipora district's Hajin area, a Lashkar-e-Taiba militant was killed.

"Killed terrorist has been identified as Imtiyaz Ahmad Dar affiliated with proscribed terror outfit LeT (TRF). He was involved in the recent civilian killing at Shahgund Bandipora," Inspector General of Police, Kashmir, Vijay Kumar tweeted.