Amid aprotracted encounter in the forest belt of Poonch, an army officer and a soldier were killed in a mine blast along the Line of Control (LoC) in Nowshera sector of adjoining Rajouri district, officials said. The deceased officer was a lieutenant while the soldier was a sepoy.
“An officer and a soldier were critically injured in a mysterious explosion along the LoC around 4.30 pm in Kalal area of Nowshera. They were evacuated to Command Hospital in Udhampur in a helicopter but succumbed to their injuries,” said officials familiar with the matter.
They were on a patrol near a forward post along the LoC when the blast took place, said people cited above.
The deceased have been identified as Lieutenant Rishi Kumar and Sepoy Manjit Singh
“GOC #WhiteKnight_IA and all ranks salute bravehearts Lt Rishi Kumar and Sep Manjit Singh, who made the supreme sacrifice in line of duty along the Line of Control in Naushera sector on 30 Oct 21 and offer deep condolences to their families,” the White Knight Corps tweeted.
“On 30 Oct 2021, during an area domination patrol in Naushera Sector, District Rajouri (J&K), a mine blast occurred wherein two Indian Army soldiers suffered critical injuries and later succumbed to their injuries. Another soldier who received injuries was evacuated and is under treatment,” the Army said in a statement.
{{/usCountry}}“On 30 Oct 2021, during an area domination patrol in Naushera Sector, District Rajouri (J&K), a mine blast occurred wherein two Indian Army soldiers suffered critical injuries and later succumbed to their injuries. Another soldier who received injuries was evacuated and is under treatment,” the Army said in a statement.
{{/usCountry}}With two more deaths, the army has lost a total of 11 soldiers, including three officers in October, in the twin districts of Rajouri and Poonch.
Before India and Pakistan renewed the mutually brokered ceasefire pact on February 25, rogue elements in connivance with Pak Army and Pak Rangers used to plant IEDs on the Indian side of 744 km-long LoC and 200 km-long international border (IB) to inflict casualties on the Indian forces.
On February 16, 2019, an army Major was killed and a soldier was injured in a similar mine blast along the Line of Control (LoC) in the Nowshera sector.
Meanwhile, search operation in the Nar Khas forests near Bhata Dhurian in Poonch district entered its 20th day on Saturday.
However, success continues to elude the security forces as terrorists hiding in the dense jungle are well trained in guerilla warfare tactics, using natural caves and poor visibility to their advantage.
An arrested member of the terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) was killed and three security personnel were injured when terrorists opened fire on a search team of the army and police in the same forests on Sunday.
A total of nine soldiers, including two JCOs and an arrested terrorist, who was taken to the encounter site for identification of a hideout, have died in the ongoing operation.
The operation in the forest areas in the twin border districts began on October 11 when terrorists ambushed a search party killing five soldiers including a Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) in Surankote forest of Poonch.
On October 14, four soldiers, including a JCO, were killed by the terrorists in Nar Khas forest in another gunfight.
Drones and helicopters have been pressed into service to assist the marching troops, which includes para-commandos, in the jungle.
Army chief General MM Naravane also visited the encounter site. According to DGP Dilbag Singh, two groups of terrorists came from across the Line of Control through the Rajouri-Poonch area and they are embedded somewhere in the jungle area.
“Going by their sighting at three places and cross-fire between them and us at two places, I guess their number is 5 to 7,” he told a TV channel recently.