J&K: Army major among three soldiers injured in ongoing gunfight in Anantnag

Srinagar, June 17: Three soldiers including an army officer were injured in an ongoing gunfight with terrorists in Anantnag on Monday morning. The entire area has been cordoned off.

Acting on credible inputs about the presence of militants in Achabal area of the south Kashmir district, security forces launched a cordon and search operation there this morning, the official said.

Army Major Rahul Verma along with two other soldiers sustained injuries during the fresh exchange of gunfire at Bidoora, Akingam, news agency GNS reported.

However, the incident comes after five Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were killed and three others were injured when their patrol party was attacked by terrorists in Anantnag on June 12. Among those who were killed include ASI Ramesh Kumar (Jhajjar, Haryana), ASI Nirod Sarma (Nalbari, Assam), CT Satendra Kumar (Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh), CT Mahesh Kr Kushwaha (Gazipur, Uttar Pradesh) and CT Sandeep Yadav (Dewas, Madhya Pradesh).

Earlier, two terrorists with links to Lashkar-e-Taiba were killed in an encounter with security forces in Braw Bandina area of Awantipora. Irfan Ahmad and Tassaduq Shah fired upon the security forces while they were conducting searches in the area but the forces neutralized them in retaliation.

Earlier the same day, four newly-recruited militants were held while trying to cross over to Pakistan through the Line of Control (LoC) in north Kashmir. The recruits included two south Kashmir boys, who have been arrested by the security forces in Boniyar area of J&K's Baramulla district.