Militant killed, Army operation in Poonch enters third day

Armymen during a gun-battle with militants at a forest area in Poonch district, J&K. File photo

A Lashkar-e-Toiba militant was killed in an encounter with the Army in Beri-Rakh forest in the border district of Poonch as the operation to track down militants in the area entered the third day today.

“A body of a terrorist has been recovered from the encounter site during search operation in Beri Rakh forests in Mendhar border belt of Poonch district”, Inspector General of Police (IGP), Jammu zone, Ashok Gupta said.

The anti-terrorist operation was launched by Army’s 37 Rashtriya Rifle (RR) troops on inputs about infiltration of a group of 10 to 12 militants in Mankote forest belt on July 13 around 0900 hours.

During the operation, an Army major was killed and six other security-men, including a colonel, injured in an encounter with suspected Lashkar-e-Toiba terrorists on July 13.

Major Amit Phunge was killed in the encounter with the militants while Colonel Ajay Katoch of 47 Rashtriya Rifles was injured.

The operation is going on in the area to track down the rest of the militants in this dense forest belt close to the Line of Control in Mankote-Mendhar belt, an Army official said.