3 soldiers dead in encounter with militants in Kulgam
In a tweet at 6.39 pm, the Kashmir Zone Police wrote: “Encounter has started at high reaches of Halan forest area of Kulgam district. Army and Kulgam Police are on the job. Further details shall follow.”
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The injured soldiers were evacuated to the hospital for treatment. “Their condition is critical,” said an Army source, who did not wish to be identified. At least three Army personnel were killed in an encounter between militants and security forces in South Kashmir’s Kulgam district on Friday evening.
The Chinar Corps, Indian Army tweeted from its official handle at midnight: “On specific inputs regarding presence of terrorists on higher reaches of Halan in Kulgam, operations launched by Security Forces on August 4, 2023. In exchange of firing with terrorists, three personnel sustained injuries and later succumbed. Search operations are continuing.”
The injured soldiers had earlier been evacuated to the hospital for treatment.
In a tweet at 6.39 pm, the Kashmir Zone Police wrote: “Encounter has started at high reaches of Halan forest area of Kulgam district. Army and Kulgam Police are on the job. Further details shall follow.”
Twenty minutes later, at 6.59 pm, they tweeted: “Kulgam encounter update: Three jawans got injured in the encounter. They are being evacuated to hospital for treatment. Search in the area intensifies. Further details shall follow.”
The incident comes a day before Jammu and Kashmir marks four years since the abrogation of Article 370.
As reported earlier, data for the last three years accessed by The Indian Express show that of the 251 ‘terrorist-initiated’ incidents in J&K between January 2021 and May 30 this year, 15 were in the three districts of Jammu region and 236 in the Valley.
While the three Jammu districts saw 2, 10 and 3 incidents in 2021, 2022 and 2023 (until May 30) respectively, the Valley saw a significantly higher number of such incidents at 129, 100 and 7 in the corresponding period.
The Valley also recorded a higher number of civilian casualties (60 since 2021) while the Jammu region saw 15 civilian deaths in the corresponding period.
However, the terror attacks in three districts of Jammu region – Poonch, Rajouri and Jammu – had been bloodier and more high-visibility when compared to the strikes in the Valley. The latest such attack was on May 5 when five Army personnel were killed in a forested area in Rajouri. Two weeks earlier, on April 20, five soldiers were killed when their truck was ambushed in Poonch. May also saw five more soldiers lose their lives in Rajouri when militants, cornered by the troops, triggered an explosion in a densely forested area.
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