Jammu: A Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) and four soldiers were on Monday killed in an encounter with the militants in Surankote area of Poonch district and all the four slain soldiers have been identified.
“The operation is on and there are reports that one JCO and four soldiers of Army have been killed in the exchange of fire,” official sources said. The gunfight started in the morning following intelligence inputs as army launched a cordon and search operation in villages close to Dera Ki Gali area. “Exchange of fire is still underway,” the defence spokesperson said.
Police sources said four to five militants were trapped. “The militants fired at the joint patrol party, which was effectively retaliated leading to the encounter,” he said. Meanwhile army has said that a Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) and four soldiers, who were killed on Monday in an encounter between the government forces and the militants in Surankote area of Poonch district have been identified. Four of the slain soldiers, including the JCO, Naib Subedar Jaswinder Singh, are from Punjab, while army soldier Vaisakh H. is from Kerala. The rest of the soldiers from Punjab are Mandeep Singh, Gajjan Singh, Saraj Singh. The operation is on and intermittent firing in continuing several hours after the soldiers were attacked and killed during the gunfight that started in the morning following intelligence inputs as the Indian Army launched a cordon and search operation in villages close to Dera Ki Gali area, official sources said.
Police sources said four to five militants were trapped earlier in the day and as the joint patrol party approached the area for cordon and search operation, the militants opened fire, which was effectively retaliated leading to the encounter.
