Major killed in gunbattle

Two terrorists were shot dead and an army Major was killed in a five-hour gunbattle at the Line of Control (LoC) in the Mendhar sector of Poonch district, bordering Pakistan. The encounter, which began around 11 pm on Tuesday, was over by 4 am on Wednesday.

Two terrorists were shot dead and an army Major was killed in a five-hour gunbattle at the Line of Control (LoC) in the Mendhar sector of Poonch district, bordering Pakistan. The encounter, which began around 11 pm on Tuesday, was over by 4 am on Wednesday.

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Mendhar is 210 km northeast of Jammu.

Defence Spokesperson Lt Col Biplab Nath said, “Two terrorists were shot dead in an encounter at Balakote area, 10 km northwest of Mendhar. Major Akash Deep Singh, 5 Maratha Light Infantry also got killed.”

Troops at the LoC noticed a movement of infiltrators near the fence on the Indian side through hand held thermal devices, said official sources who did not want to be named. The Army cordoned off the area when the infiltrators came deep inside Indian territory. A gun battle followed and two terrorists were shot dead and the Major lost his life.

DGP Kuldeep Khoda had said on Sunday that attempts were being made to push infiltrators into J&K before the passes get blocked by heavy snow.

The Mendhar sector is vulnerable to infiltration because there are human habitations close to the LoC on both the Indian and Pakistani sides.