SRINAGAR: Four terrorists were killed and an
Army commando suffered injuries in an encounter in the forests of Rafiabad, in north Kashmir's Baramulla district, on Wednesday.
Reports said a joint team of the Army's 32 RR and commandos from 9 Para launched a cordon-and-search operation in the dense woods of the upper reaches of Rafiabad early Wednesday morning.
A police officer confirmed the cordon operation in the woods of Naldagi, a mountainous area that connects
Uri sector, and said the joint team and a group of militants were engaged in an early morning stand-off.
The police officer said a commando of the Army's 9 Para, Naresh Chander Bhutt, was injured in the initial gunfight and immediately evacuated to a nearby MI Room and then airlifted to the 92 Base military hospital here. He said four militants were killed in the operation. "Their identities and group affiliation were yet to be ascertained," he said.
The militants were believed to have recently infiltrated through Uri sector, he said.
The Army's Srinagar-based defence spokesperson, Col Rajesh Kalia, said in a statement issued here four terrorists were killed in the operation which was ongoing.
"Lt Gen AK Bhatt, GOC, Chinar Corps, compliments Kilo Force, Special Forces (SF) and 32 RR soldiers for killing four militants in the ongoing operations in the forests of Rafiabad. The SF team was specially inserted in the area of operations and have done an excellent job by neutralising these militants and thwarting their nefarious designs," the spokesman said.
Earlier, DGP S P Vaid said five militants were trapped in the gunfight. "Encounter going on in Dooniwari forest area of police station Dangiwacha Sopore, reports of presence of 5 terrorists. Wish success to our boys," the DGP said on Twitter.
Separately, the Jammu & Kashmir police arrested on Wednesday an overground worker of the militant outfit Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind in Sheeri area of north Kashmir's Baramulla district.
An official said the forces were acting on specific information that the arrested man, Irfan Ahmad Ganaie, son of Muhammad Ramzan Ganaie, was on his way to Uri to undertake militant action. "… the individual was apprehended carrying a live hand grenade," the official said, adding that "preliminary investigation had revealed his affiliation with Ghazwat-ul-Hind".
