Jammu and Kashmir: 5 Indian Army soldiers killed in Kathua terror attack; firefight underway

Jammu and Kashmir terror attacks: Following recent counter-insurgency operations in the Kulgam and Chinigham areas, an Indian Army convoy was attacked by terrorists in the Machedi area of the Kathua district on Monday. Five army personnel were killed and six were injured in the exchange of fire between terrorists and security forces.

“A massive search operation has been launched,” informed the Jammu and Kashmir Police. As per the officials, the area in Jammu and Kashmir where the attack took place falls under the 9th Corps of the Indian Army.

"After firing by terrorists, our troops also retaliated. More details are awaited," defence officials said.

Meanwhile, after six terrorists were killed in two different encounters in Jammu and Kashmir, Brigadier Prithviraj Chauhan, Commander 1sec RR, said on Monday that the killing of terrorists in South Kashmir is a significant blow to Hizbul-Mujahideen.

Chauhan also mentioned that, during the operation, one Army personnel also sacrificed his life.

“In the Chinigham operation, our soldier Prabhakar Praveen made the supreme sacrifice for the nation. We had been monitoring movements in this area for several days with the help of all agencies and Army surveillance devices. On July 6, we received information about terrorist movements in the Chinigham area. Around 4 pm, one of our soldiers noted the movement. When we challenged them, they started firing, and our parties responded fully, during which one of our soldiers was martyred. After concluding the operation, we found and promptly destroyed an IED weighing approximately 6 kg, keeping collateral damage in mind,” he said.

The first encounter broke out between terrorists and security forces in Modergam village. Hours later, another encounter broke out in the Frisal Chinnigam area of the district.

Jammu and Kashmir has witnessed a "spike" in the number of terrorist attacks in the past few months.

In June, three terrorists were neutralised in an encounter with security forces in the Gandoh, Bhaderwah sector of district Doda in Jammu and Kashmir, ADGP Anand Jain had said.

On the Kulgam encounter, Javed Ahmad Matoo, DIG South Kashmir, had said that in two joint operations conducted from July 6 to 7, two terrorists were killed.

“Adil, who had multiple FIRs against him in different police stations, was killed in one operation. The second encounter took place in the Chinigham area based on specific information, resulting in the killing of four terrorists. Among them was Yavar Bashir Dar, a Category 'A' terrorist. The others were identified as Tauheed Ahmed, Shakeel Ahmed Wani, and Zahir Ahmad Dar. A significant cache of arms and ammunition was recovered from the encounter site. Both locations had hideouts that the terrorists had been using for a considerable time,” Matoo had said.