SRINAGAR: An army officer was killed in an ongoing encounter with militants that broke out a day before Independence Day, in the Akar forest area of the mountainous Doda district in Jammu and Kashmir.
One terrorist was also gunned down in the encounter.
The officer, identified as Captain Deepak, sustained critical bullet injuries. He was evacuated to a nearby military hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries.
The gunfight was ongoing when reports last came in, an official said.
The encounter began on Tuesday evening after army personnel, during a search operation, detected a group of militants hiding in the forest area.
After the initial firefight, the militants escaped, but the security forces chased them, and the search operation continued throughout the night.
“The firefight resumed between the militants and security forces in the early hours of Wednesday,” a security official said.
“During the search operation, security forces recovered a US-made M-4 carbine rifle and three backpacks from the Shivgarh-Assar belt,” defense sources said.
"One terrorist has been neutralised in the ongoing operation. One AK 47 has been recovered. Intermittent exchange of firing continues as the operations are ongoing," the Army said in a post on X.
Police also confirmed the killing of a terrorist.
The militants have previously carried out attacks on security forces and have been engaged in encounters with troops in the Doda district.
There has been a sudden surge in militant violence and attacks in the Jammu region since June this year.
