4 army men, 2 militants killed in Gurez gun battle

Gurez: At least four army soldiers including an officer were killed after army patrolling party and an infiltrating group of militants came face-to-face along LOC in Gurez Sector of North Kashmir’s Bandipora district.
The gunfight between army and infiltrators started at around 1 am on Tuesday and resulted in the killing of four soldiers. Reports said the encounter took place at Losar Nallah in Gurez sector of Bandipore district. The post that is closer to the spot of encounter is manned by personnel from 36-RR. Srinagar based Defense Spokesperson Colonel Rajesh Kalia said that two militants were also killed in the standoff.
Reports said that massive search operation was launched and reinforcement called in to track down the militants.
An official said that it was a group of 8 militants who attacked army patrolling party. Initial reports said that 4 soldiers including a Major were killed. Reports added that the bodies of two militants have been retrieved near the encounter site.
Another official said that 4 militants managed to cross other part of Kashmir after the exchange of fire. “Search operation is underway,” he said.
The slain soldiers have been identified as Major KP Rane, Hav Jamie Singh, Hav Vikramjeet, and Rfn Mandeep Singh.
Meanwhile, India’s Minister of State for Home Hansraj Ahir said 69 infiltrators were killed on the LoC and International Border (IB) this year till June. In a written reply to the Parliament, he said there 133 attempts of infiltration of which 69 succeeded.
In 2017, he said, there were 406 infiltration bids in which 123 militants crossed in and were killed.
The minister said that as many as 694 militants were killed and 368 others , including suspects were arrested between 2014 and July, 2018.
This year, so far, Jammu and Kashmir witnessed 308 incidents of violence in which 113 militants were killed in 90 encounters. In these incidents 49 security personnel were also killed.
During the Ramzan ceasefire, the minister said, 73 incidents of violence took place which is almost double than 34 incidents during the previous month. Apart from 23 militants, eight security personnel and three civilians were killed during the Ramzan ceasefire.