Indian Army has recovered the bodies of two soldiers including a Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) who went missing during a deadly encounter with the terrorists in Poonch’s Mendhar area of Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday evening.
With the recovery of the bodies, the number of casualties of Indian Army during the ongoing counter terrorist operation has rose to nine.
A massive search operation in the forest areas of Jammu and Kashmir’s twin border districts of Poonch and Rajouri was launched earlier to track down terrorists involved in the killing of the Army soldiers. Officials told CNN-News18 that gunshots were heard as the joint search parties of the Army and the police resumed the operation in Poonch’s Mendhar area. However, it was not immediately clear whether it was speculative firing by the search parties or fresh contact was established with the terrorists, they said.
The area is mountainous and the forest is dense, which makes the operation difficult and dangerous, according to the officials. A vast forest area of Mendhar has been under tight security cordon since Thursday, when Riflemen Vikram Singh Negi and Yogambar Singh, both from Uttarakhand, were martyred in an encounter with terrorists in the Nar Khas forest.
The Poonch-Jammu highway has been closed since Thursday evening following safety measures.
Faraaz
Faraaz is pursuing PG Diploma in TV Journalism from Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi.
