IT Correspondent
Mumbai, Oct 17:
The bodies of two more Army personnel who were killed on Thursday during a counter-terrorist operation in Mendhar in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir, were recovered, even as the Army toll in the week-long operation rose to Nine on Saturday.
Subedar Ajay Singh and Naik Harendra Singh were killed during a search operation by the Indian Army along with the Jammu and Kashmir Police in the densely forested area of Nar Khas forest in Mendhar. The objective of the operation was to flush out terrorists hiding in the forested area.
Subedar Ajay Singh and Naik Harendra Singh were part of search operations launched by the security forces. On Thursday, after a fierce fire fight with terrorists, the communication with Subedar Ajay Singh and Naik Harendra Singh was disrupted. Relentless operations continued to neutralize the terrorists and to re-establish communication with the soldiers. Subedar Ajay Singh and Naik Harendra Singh were critically injured and later succumbed to injuries. Their bodies were recovered on Saturday evening, a Defence PRO said.
Similarly on Friday, two Army personnel were killed in an encounter with terrorists in Poonch district. They were identified as riflemen Vikram Singh Negi (26) and Yogambar Singh (27). Negi, was a resident of Viman village in Uttarakhand’s Tehri Garhwal district, while Singh, was the resident of Chamoli district’s Sankari village in Garhwal.
Also on October 12, Monday, five Indian Army soldiers were killed in an encounter in Dera Ki Gali in the Surankote area of Poonch district. The five were identified as Naib Subedar (JCO) Jaswinder Singh, Naik Mandeep Singh and Sepoys Gajjan Singh, Saraj Singh, and Vaisakh H.
The operation to search the terrorists who are hiding in the forests will continue. On September 12, a militant was killed in an encounter with security forces following a search operation in the upper reaches of Manjakote in Jammu and Kashmir’s Rajouri district.
On August 19, a JCO was killed in an encounter with terrorists in the Thanamandi area of Jammu and Kashmir”s Rajouri district. On August 6, two Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists were killed in an encounter with security forces in the Thanamandi belt.
