Two soldiers killed, 2 civilians injured in Kashmir encounter

While the Srinagar-based Chinar Corps said two soldiers and two civilians were injured in the gunfight and were “evacuated for treatment”, a senior police officer told The Indian Express three soldiers were wounded, of whom two succumbed.

Police sources said a joint team of J&K Police and Army had been combing the forests of Kokernag for the last three days and established contact with the militants on Saturday afternoon. They said that militants upon seeing the Army opened “indiscriminate fire”, leading to the casualties.

The Srinagar-based Defence spokesman said the search operation was launched after the Army received inputs about the movement of the militants from Jammu region’s Doda district towards south Kashmir.

“It had been earlier confirmed through human and electronic means on 05 August 2024 terrorists responsible for atrocities and incidents in the Doda region in the month of July 24, had sneaked across the Kishtwar range into the Kapran Garol area in South Kashmir,” the  Defence spokesman said in a statement. On July 15, four soldiers, including a Captain, were killed in a terror attack in Doda’s Desa forests, while on July 8, at least five soldiers were killed in an ambush in neighbouring Kathua.

“Rashtriya Rifles and J&K Police have ever since relentlessly tracked these terrorists and precise operations were launched on the night of 09 & 10 Aug 2024 in the area East of Kapran, in the mountains, where these terrorists were reportedly holed up,” the Defence spokesman said, adding that the “terror antecedents of the injured civilians are being ascertained”.

The Defence spokesman said the mountainous area where the gunfight took place has a dense forest cover, making it a challenging operation. “Security forces… are in the process of hunting down the terrorists. Operations will progress through the night,” the spokesman added.

Saturday’s gunfight was the second major encounter in Kokernag since last September, when a Colonel, a Major and a Deputy Superintendent of Police were killed.

It came a day after Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar, while concluding his two-day visit to J&K, told reporters in Jammu that Assembly elections were planned to be held in the UT “at the earliest”, and warned “no internal or external forces” will be allowed to disrupt the polls.

CEC Kumar’s visit, along with ECs Gyanesh Kumar and S S Sandhu, was the poll panel’s first major exercise to prepare for Assembly elections in J&K since Article 370 was abrogated on August 5, 2019 and the erstwhile state was downgraded to a UT subsequently.

Over the past few years, J&K has seen a surge in terror attacks and infiltration attempts, particularly in the Jammu division, with over 50 soldiers killed since 2021. In Jammu, at least 11 security personnel have died this year so far.

In June, days after nine civilians were killed in an attack on a bus carrying pilgrims in Reasi, Prime Minister Modi directed the security establishment to deploy “the full spectrum” of “counter-terror capabilities”.

In the Valley, at least four security personnel and seven militants were killed in separate encounters in July.

Asked about the spurt, CEC Kumar told reporters in Jammu on Friday that security forces and the UT administration were capable of dealing with the situation. “We will not allow the democratic process to get derailed,” he said.