TWO army personnel, including a Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO), lost their lives and six militants were killed in separate gunbattles in Jammu's Rajouri and Kashmir's Pulwama and Kulgam, officials said.
Meanwhile, a shutdown was observed Thursday in parts of the Valley to mark the fifth year since militant commander Burhan Wani was killed by security forces.
In Rajouri, sources told The Indian Express that Naib Subedar Sreejith M and Sepoy Maruprolu Jaswanth Reddy were killed in a gunbattle at Daddal village in the Sunderbani sector during an operation by security forces to foil an infiltration bid.
Two “foreign terrorists” from Pakistan were gunned down in the incident while another soldier was injured, officials said.
Four other militants were killed in successive encounters following a search operation in Kashmir, officials said.
According to sources, the encounter in Rajouri took place after security forces came across a group of militants who had infiltrated from across the border recently. The Army had been engaged in extensive search operations in the area since June 29.
Army spokesperson Lt Colonel Devender Anand said that following information received Wednesday about the presence of militants, a “search and destroy” patrol seeking “proactive engagement with the terrorists was launched” in the Dadal forest area.
“The terrorists, on being challenged, opened fire and lobbed hand grenades. The troops retaliated, leading to a fierce…
