2 Lashkar militants killed in Army encounter at J&K’s Rajouri district

Meanwhile, one more soldier was killed in the gunbattle on Thursday, raising the death toll on the Army side to five.

Quari (left with cap) along with another militant visiting a house in Kalakote area.

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Two militants of the Lashkar-e-Taiba were killed on Thursday, the second day of the ongoing encounter between the Army and the militants in the Kalakote area of Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir.

Meanwhile, one more soldier was killed in the gunbattle on Thursday, raising the death toll on the Army side to five. On Wednesday, four Armymen, including two captains and a JCO, were killed, in the encounter between the security forces and the militants in the Bazi Mal Upper forests area which falls under the jurisdiction of the Dharamsal police station in the Kalakote sub-division.

Identifying one of the slain militants as Quari, a Pakistani national, a statement issued by Army PRO Lt Colonel Suneel Baratwal said he is believed to have carried out the Dangri and Kandi attacks where seven civilians and five Armymen, respectively, were killed earlier this year.

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“He has been trained on the Pakistan and Afghanistan Front,” the statement said, adding that he was a highly ranked terrorist leader of the Lashkar-e-Taiba and was active in the Rajouri-Poonch region along with his group for the past one year.

An expert in fabricating IEDs and a trained sniper, Quari was sent from across the LoC to revive terror activities in the area, the Army said.

The police and security forces were already carrying out combing and search operations in the area for the past several days, following an intelligence tip-off. According to the Army, two militants had a few days ago visited a house in the area for food.

A contact was established when the militants opened fire on the search parties on Wednesday morning.

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