In the early hours of Thursday, an encounter broke out between terrorists and security forces in Jaddan Bata village of Kastigarh area in Doda district of Jammu and Kashmir. As per local officials, terrorists opened fire on a temporary army camp established in a government school around 2 am. The ensuing gunbattle between the two sides lasted for over an hour before subsiding.
During the exchange of fire, two soldiers received minor injuries. They have been shifted to a medical facility for treatment. Security personnel have launched a massive search operation in the dense forests of Desa to track down the terrorists.
This encounter comes just days after four army men, including a captain, were martyred in a terrorist attack in the same region. Since then, security forces have been conducting extensive cordon and search missions to flush out any terrorist presence in the area.
Earlier this week, brief firing was also reported from Desa forest on two occasions. Doda was cleared of terrorism in 2005, however terror activities have seen a rise again in the past month with multiple attacks on security forces.
In total, 27 people including 11 forces personnel have lost their lives in over a dozen terror incidents across six districts of Jammu province so far this year. Security forces remain committed to maintain law and order while eliminating threats to peace in the valley.
