Kupwara Encounter: Day 2 : 3 Army jawans, 2 cops martyred; 5 terrorists eliminated, mopping ops on

SRINAGAR, MARCH 22 : On the second day of fierce gun battle in the dense Kupwara forest in north Kashmir, five security personnel, including three Army jawans and two policemen attained martyrdom, while one more terrorist was gunned down by the security forces, thus taking the toll to 10.

While the firing from both the sides had stopped at the time of this news going to press, the search operations were on in the low visibility, with possibility of more exchange of fire not ruled out.

"Firing still continues in Kupwara and on Wednesday, two policemen and three soldiers were killed in the ongoing operations," Indian army spokesman Col Rajesh Kalia informed.

The three Army martyrs have been identified as Sepoy Mohammad Ashraf Rather of 160 Territorial Army (TA) and Havaldar Zorawar of 3 JAK Rifles who was attached with of same TA battalion, Naik Ranjeet Khalho of 5 Bihar, whereas two Special Operation Group personnel of Jammu and Kashmir Police have been identified as Mohammad Yousuf Cheche (SPO) of Kachama, Kupwara and Deepak Thusoo of Nagrota, Jammu.

Also, four security forces personnel including Sub Inspector (SI) Harvinder Singh, Javaid Ahmad of SOG, one army soldier and a CRPF trooper were injured.

The army has also pressed drones to track the terrorists, while reinforcement of 5 Bihar and 4 para commandos were also rushed today morning, cordoning off areas in the peripheries of the Halmatpora.

The encounter which had started on Tuesday afternoon intensified on Wednesday morning as terrorists fired on the search parties of the security force who had yesterday eliminated four terrorists.

A joint team of the Kupwara police along with companies of the Army, the Territorial Army (TA) and the CRPF have been engaged in the operations since yesterday after the encounter broke out in the Halmatpora area following the interception of a group of terrorists by forces.

The group of terrorists had managed to sneak in nearly 8 kms after crossing two ridges of the Shamsabari mountain range, officials said, thus bringing to light gaps in the Army's vigil along the LoC.
The terrorists had met their "reception party" (over ground workers and terrorists already present in the Valley) after crossing the LoC and were proceeding towards Kupwara town when they were spotted by police personnel, officials said.

The terrorists, who were hiding inside a mosque, started running towards the forest, but not before four of them were killed by the security forces yesterday.

The fifth militant, who had hid himself at a height and was firing on the approaching security forces, was killed this evening, they said, adding that all are believed to be foreign terrorists and part of a group that had freshly infiltrated the LoC.

“In the process, a huge cache of arms and ammunition and other incriminating materials which include AK 47 rifles, grenades, etc were recovered from the encounter site,” a spokesman said.

Earlier in the exchange of fire, SPO Javaid Ahmad was injured. He was shifted to a hospital and his condition is stable, he said.

"Owing to the thick vegetation and low visibility, the security forces are mopping the area with due caution," the spokesman said.

Meanwhile Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti and Deputy Chief Minister Dr Nirmal Singh paid tributes to the security forces' personnel killed in the encounter.

In a statement, the chief minister while paying rich tributes to the martyrs, expressed solidarity with the bereaved families of the deceased and prayed for peace to the departed souls.

Meanwhile, the Pakistan army resorted to mortar shelling and small arms firing across LoC in Balakote sector of Poonch district late last night, the police officials said today.

In its unprovoked shelling, it targeted forward posts and civilian areas along LoC in Balakote sector, following which the Indian Army hit back effectively with the exchanges continuing intermittently till dawn today, they said.