SRINAGAR: A Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) and a soldier who had gone missing after a gunfight with militants in the Nar Khas forest area of Poonch district in Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday, have been killed and their bodies recovered, the army said on Saturday.
Their bodies were found during the operation in the forest area, which continued for the sixth day on Saturday.
The army had launched a massive search operation in the forest area of Poonch after two soldiers, including Subedar Ajay Singh and Naik Harendra Singh, went missing following Thursday's gunfight in Poonch.
More reinforcements, including special forces para commandos, joined the operation. The search operation was widened and more areas brought under the cordon. The army also used helicopters in the search.
Defence spokesman in Jammu, Lt Col Devender Anand, said thay communication with the two soldiers was disrupted on October 14 evening. An army official said the troops were moving cautiously in the dense forest area and that there have been two major gunfights since October 11.
In the gunfight at the Nar Khas forest area on Thursday evening, two soldiers, Vikram Singh Negi Yogambar Singh, were killed. On October 11, a JCO and four soldiers were killed in a village close to Dera Ki Gali in Surankote, Poonch. DIG (Poonch-Rajouri range) Vivek Gupta said the dense forest area was providing natural cover. "We believe that we have pinpointed their position in a particular area," he said.