Two Lashkar-e-Toiba terrorists, one of whom is suspected to be mastermind of Dhangri attack and an IED expert, were killed in the second day of the encounter in Kamalkote forest area of Rajouri on Thursday. A soldier was also killed in the gunfight today, taking the death toll of soldiers killed in the two day long encounter to five.
An army official said the gunfight again erupted between the holed-up terrorists and security forces in Bajimaal village of Kalakote forest area in Rajouri in the early hours today.
“In the gunfight today, both the holed up Lashkar terrorists and a soldier were killed,” he said.
The official identified one of the slain LeT terrorist as Qari, a Pakistani national
“Qar has been trained on Pakistan and Afghan Front and is a highly ranked terrorist leader of Lashkar-e-Taiba. He has been active in Rajouri-Poonch alongwith his group from past one year and is also believed to be mastermind of Dhangri and Kandi attacks in Rajouri district,” he said.
The official said Qari was sent to revive terrorism in the region and was an expert in IEDs, operating and hiding from caves and a trained sniper.
Dhangri attacks occurred on January 1 and 2 in which seven civilians were killed.
On Wednesday, four army personnel, including two captains, were killed and two others injured in the operation against the terrorists in Bajimaal village of Kalakote forest area.
The deceased soldiers were identified as Captain M V Pranjal of 63 Rastriya Rifles, a resident of Karnataka; Captain Shubham of the Special Forces, a resident of Agra in Uttar Pradesh; Havaldar Abdul Majid of Special Force, a resident of Poonch in J&K, Lance Naik Sanjay Bist of Nainital in Uttarakhand and Paratrooper Sachin Laur, a resident of Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh.
The encounter in Rajouri comes close on the heels of another gunfight in Behrote in Budhal area on November 17, in which one terrorist was killed. Two earlier ambushes in the Mendhar area of Poonch and Kandi forest of Rajouri on April 20 and May 5, respectively, had claimed the lives of 10 soldiers. According to officials, 46 deaths have been recorded in terrorism-related incidents in the twin border districts of Rajouri and Poonch and nearby Reasi district since January this year.
While 23 people, including seven terrorists and nine security personnel, were killed in Rajouri, 15 terrorists and five security personnel in Poonch district. Three terrorists were killed in Reasi district.