Jammu, May 22 (IANS) A soldier was killed and two others injured on Thursday in an ongoing gunfight between the joint security forces & terrorists in J&K’s Kishtwar district, officials said.

Officials said that the soldier was martyred in the encounter in the Singhpora Chatroo area of Kishtwar.

“Army jawan martyred in ongoing Kishtwar encounter has been identified as Sepoy Gaykar Sandip Pandurang, resident of village Karandi tehsil, Akole, Ahmednagar district, Maharashtra. The injured soldiers have been shifted to the hospital. The encounter is going on,” an official said.

Earlier reports had said that two terrorists were killed in this encounter. However, the report has still not been officially confirmed.

Joint forces, including 2 Para, 11 Rashtriya Rifles, 7 Assam Rifles, and the Special Operations Group (SOG) of J&K Police, started the operation against Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) terrorists, reportedly three to four in number, in the Singhpora Chatroo area in the morning.

Officials said that the joint security forces launched a cordon and search operation (CASO) after getting specific information about the presence of a group of three to four terrorists.

“The cordon was tightened to engage the terrorists and to ensure that they are unable to escape. As the joint forces came closer, the hiding terrorists opened fire, triggering an encounter which is now going on. Three to four Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) terrorists are reported to be holed up,” an official said earlier.

Naming the operation “Op Trashi”, the White Knight Corps of the Indian Army, in a post on its X handle, said: “Contact has been established with #terrorists during a joint #operation with @JmuKmrPolice at #Chhatru, #Kishtwar today morning. Additional troops have been inducted, and operations are ongoing to neutralize the terrorists.”

Joint forces have started aggressive operations against terrorists, their overground workers (OGWs) and sympathisers in Jammu and Kashmir.

These operations were intensified after April 22, when Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists segregated tourists on the basis of religion and killed 26 civilians, including 25 tourists and a local, in Baisaran meadow of Pahalgam.

The cowardly terrorist act outraged the entire nation. India launched precision-guided targeted attacks on terrorist infrastructure in Muridke near Lahore, Bahawalpur, Kotli, and Muzaffarabad in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

Pakistan responded by heavy mortar shelling on the Line of Control (LoC) and the International Border (IB) in Jammu and Kashmir, targeting civilian facilities. A total of 200 houses and shops were destroyed in Pakistani shelling, while hundreds of border residents were forced to abandon their villages to run to safer locations.

The border residents have not fully returned to their homes yet as the security forces are still defusing unexploded Pakistan shells in Poonch, Rajouri, Baramulla, and Kupwara districts.

India agreed to a ceasefire arrived at by the DGMOs of the two countries on June 12.

But, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has made it clear that the understanding will be respected only as long as Pakistan does not allow any terrorist activity on its soil against India. He said that this was a probation period for Pakistan.

–IANS

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