Army officer, 4 others killed in encounter with terrorists in J&K's Poonch

Srinagar, Oct 11: Five army personnel, including a junior commissioned officer (JCO), were killed in an encounter that broke out between security forces and terrorists during an anti-insurgency operation in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district on Monday.

The operation was launched in a village close to DKG in Surankote in the early hours following intelligence inputs about the presence of terrorists there, he said.

The encounter was going on when the last reports were received. The hiding ultras opened heavy fire on the search parties resulting in critical injuries to a JCO and four other ranks, the spokesman said.

They have been sent to a hospital for treatment, he said.

Officials said there are reports about the presence of a group of heavily-armed terrorists in the Chamrer forest after they managed to sneak from across the Line of Control (LoC).

Reinforcements have been rushed to the area to plug all escape routes of the terrorists, they said.