Army officer, militant killed in Jammu & Kashmir’s Rajouri encounter

An army officer and a militant were killed in an encounter on Thursday in Thanamandi area of Rajouri in Jammu district. The armed forces, acting on intelligence about the presence of militants in the area, launched an operation and established contact with the militant.

The army officials said that one Junior Commissioned Officer of the Rashtriya Rifles suffered bullet injuries in the encounter. “The JCO was immediately evacuated to the nearest medical facility, but he succumbed to injuries,” defence spokesperson Lt Col Devender Anand told reporters. They also informed that an unidentified militant was killed in the operation late in the evening. “Search operation is still going on in the area,” senior superintendent of police in Rajouri, Sheema Qasba told ET.

This is the second encounter this month in the Thanamandi area. On August 6, two Lashkar-e-Toiba militants were killed in an encounter.


Meanwhile, unidentified gunmen shot dead J&K Apni Party activist Ghulam Hassan Lone in Kulgam area of southern Kashmir. Lone had joined the party four months ago after resigning from the People's Democratic Party. His killing was executed two days after suspected militants killed Javed Ahmad Dar of the BJP, also in Kulgam district.With ceasefire in place between India and Pakistan along the Line of Control since February this year, the armed forces claim that no successful infiltration attempt was reported along the LoC till now this year.