An army officer and three soldiers succumbed to injuries sustained in an encounter with terrorists in the Desa forests of Doda district on Monday night, defence officials said on Tuesday. This is the sixth major terror attack in the Jammu region this year.
The officer, a major, was from the counter-insurgency unit 10 Rashtriya Rifles. “#GeneralUpendraDwivedi #COAS and all ranks of #IndianArmy convey their deepest condolences to the #Bravehearts Captain Brijesh Thapa, Naik D Rajesh, Sepoy Bijendra & Sepoy Ajay, who laid down their lives in the line of duty, while undertaking a counter terrorist operation in #Doda in order to ensure peace in the region. #IndianArmy stands firm with the bereaved families in this hour of grief,” White Knight Corps (16 Corps) posted on X.
Jammu-based defence spokesperson Lt Col Suneel Bartwal said, “In light of the incidents south of Pir Panjal range in the recent past, proactive counter-terror operations continue to be prosecuted.”
“Accordingly, a joint operation with J&K Police was launched in the general area of Urarbaggi, 55km north of Doda. At 8.40pm on Monday, the search party was able to establish contact with the terrorists hiding in the thickly forested and mountainous area with restricted visibility due to low clouds and rain. In the initial volley of fire, four Indian Army personnel were injured, who later succumbed to their injuries,” Col Bartwal said.
Additional troops and equipment have been inducted to flush out the terrorists and use of drones and other technical resources is being ensured, he said.
{{/usCountry}}Additional troops and equipment have been inducted to flush out the terrorists and use of drones and other technical resources is being ensured, he said.
{{/usCountry}}“The Indian Army has been conducting a series of joint and coordinated operations with Jammu and Kashmir Police to eliminate foreign terrorists, who have infiltrated and are moving in the upper reaches of Udhampur, Doda, Kishtwar and Bhaderwah districts and thereafter to the Kashmir Valley. Similar operations are being conducted in the Kathua area in a relentless manner. The series of operations in the recent past have resulted in neutralisation of three terrorists in Gandoh on June 26, besides successfully thwarting the Chattargala terrorist attack on June 11,” he added.
Kashmir Tigers, a proxy outfit of the Jaish-e-Mohammad, has claimed responsibility for the attack.
Infiltrated recently through Kathua, Punjab
A top police officer said that joint search operations had been launched in the Desa forests since April 28 when terrorists had killed a village defence guard, Mohammad Sharief, in the Chochru Gala heights in Basantgarh area of Udhampur district adjoining Doda.
“There are no villages as the area has dense jungles called Desa forests, which have a hilly terrain, natural caves, ravines and rivulets. The only population that could be seen in their dhoks (mud houses) in the area are tribal nomads, who head to meadows with their livestock in summer,” said the official.
Security and intelligence agencies suspect that eight to 10 groups of three to four terrorists, trained in guerilla warfare and being helped by overground workers, are active in Doda. “We suspect they are all foreign terrorists, who recently infiltrated from Pakistan via traditional routes along the international border in Hiranagar sector of Kathua. Some might have infiltrated from the Punjab border as well,” said an intelligence official.
Ambush security forces, escape in forest
“Being helped with logistics by overground workers and technology, these terrorists are using dense forests and hilly terrain to their advantage. They ambush army convoys and search parties and escape into their hideouts inside dense jungles,” he said.
On Monday night, three to five terrorists ambushed the search party, comprising the officer and seven soldiers from the hilltop, he said.
Desa in Doda shares its boundaries with Basantgarh in Udhampur, Anantnag, Keshwan in Kishtwar, and Pogal Paristan in Ramban district.
Initial reports suggested that the terrorists tried to escape after an exchange of fire.
The security forces chased them into the treacherous terrain and thick foliage, leading to another firefight in the woods around 9pm on Monday.
The firefight was triggered when the terrorists fired at a joint Rashtriya Rifles and Jammu and Kashmir Police’s special operations group (SOG) team involved in a cordon and search operation at Dhari Gote.
Second encounter in Doda in week
The attack on Monday was the second in Doda district a week when an exchange of fire broke out between security forces and terrorists during a search operation in the Goli-Gadi forest on July 9.
A day earlier, terrorists lobbed hand-grenades and fired with automatic weapons at an army truck passing through Badnota village, 250km from the Doda encounter site, in Kathua on July 8.
Naib Subedar Anand Singh, havaldar Kamal Singh, rifleman Anuj Negi, naik Vinod Singh, and rifleman Adarsh Negi, all from Uttarakhand, were killed in the ambush. Five army personnel were injured in the attack.
Joint teams of the army, Central Reserve Police Force, and Jammu and Kashmir Police launched a search operation in Kathua and also pressed helicopters, unmanned aerial vehicles and sniffer dogs into service to locate the terrorists.
J&K Police chief RR Swain conducted an aerial survey of the area and reviewed operations. The perpetrators of the Kathua attack were believed to have recently infiltrated into the region from across the border. They were believed to be linked to the April 28 Basantgarh attack in which the village defence guard was killed.
Terror activity in areas south of the Pir Panjal range, including the Rajouri-Poonch sector, has spiked during the last two years. The army has sent more troops to the sector, reoriented its units, and strengthened the intelligence network for counter-terror operations.
Security forces recalibrated their responses as Jammu, Rajouri, Poonch, and Reasi districts became clear targets for Pakistan-based terror groups
Seven soldiers were killed in counter-terror operations in the Kashmir Valley last year compared to 20 in the Rajouri-Poonch sector. A total of 71 terrorists were killed in Jammu and Kashmir in 2023, including 51 in the Kashmir Valley and 20 in the Rajouri-Poonch area.
The Kathua attack came after twin gunbattles in Kulgam district of Kashmir in which six terrorists and two soldiers were killed this month.
On June 9, terrorists attacked a bus in Reasi, leaving nine pilgrims dead and 42 others injured. Three terrorists were killed after a gunfight broke out between terrorists and security forces in the Gandoh area of Doda district on June 26.