Jammu: Terrorist shot in Jammu & Kashmir day after 3 soldiers killed in encounter | India News – Times of India

SRINAGAR/JAMMU: A terrorist was gunned down when a combined team of J&K police, Army, and CRPF initiated a cordon-and-search operation in response to information about the presence of terrorists in the Khawas area of Jammu’s Rajouri district on Saturday. As the team approached a hideout, the terrorist opened fire, triggering a gunfight.

The shootout marked an escalation in counter-terrorism operations after three soldiers died and two of their colleagues were wounded in an ambush on a 34 Rashtriya Rifles team while they were setting up a tent in the forests of Halan in south Kashmir’s Kulgam district on Friday evening.

Security sources said “three to four foreign terrorists” targeted the soldiers from behind tree lines in Halan, throwing a hand grenade, and then engaging them with gunshots, which wounded five of them. The soldiers responded with quick counter-fire, but the attackers managed to escape.

Havildar Babulal Haritwal, Signalman Vala Mahipalsinh Pravinsinh, and Rifleman Waseem Sarwar died later during treatment. The other two wounded soldiers are reported to be stable.
The security forces launched Saturday morning a massive search-and-destroy mission against the terrorists suspected to be hiding in the woods. They were using drones, while additional troops and the Army’s Para Special Forces have been moved into the area, sources said. The forces were also combing the Kund region of the district after a blast-like sound was heard when military vehicles were passing through the area, sources said.

Sources attributed the attack to what the security establishment calls a “big day offensive”, when terrorists are typically known to escalate violence in J&K before and during a major event, in this case, the fourth anniversary of the revocation of Article 370.