Srinagar, Sep 28, 2024, IANS

Srinagar, Sep 28 (IANS) Two terrorists were killed and five security personnel, including a J&K Police official, injured in an encounter between security forces and the terrorists in J&K's Kulgam district on Saturday. Officials said the encounter between the security forces and the terrorists was taking place in the Adigam area of Kulgam. "The identity of the slain terrorists is being ascertained as the firing exchanges are still continuing in the area," an official said. Four soldiers and a senior police officer were injured in the encounter. "After receiving specific intelligence inputs about the presence of a group of terrorists in Adigam village of Kulgam, security forces including the army, police, and the CRPF started a CASO (Cordon & Search Operation) in the area. After carefully approaching the hiding terrorists to ensure that no damage was caused to civilian life and property, the security forces came under heavy firing from the terrorists. Four army soldiers and a senior officer of J&K Police were injured," the official said The injured have been identified as Additional SP, Kulgam, Mumtaz Ali Bhatti, and sepoys Mohan Sharma, Sohan Kumar, Yoginder and Mohammad Isran of the Rashtriya Rifles. "Security forces have plugged all escape routes to ensure that the hiding terrorists are unable to escape. Reinforcements have already reached the encounter site. The injured security personnel have been shifted to hospital for treatment," the official said. The terrorists, believed to be hardcore foreign mercenaries, have carried out hit-and-run attacks against the army, local police and civilians in the hilly districts of Doda, Kathua, Rajouri, Poonch, and Reasi in the Jammu division during the last three to four months. After carrying out ambushes against the army and others in the hilly areas, the terrorists would escape into the densely foliaged and forested areas of these hilly districts. To thwart these tactics, over 4000 soldiers drawn from the elite Para Commandos and those trained in mountain warfare were deployed in the mountain tops and densely forested areas of the Jammu division. After this revised strategy by the security forces, terrorist attacks in these districts have drastically come down. With their augmented presence in these areas, the security forces have been able to engage with terrorists, leading to gunfights, in these areas. Five terrorists have been killed so far after the security forces revisited their strategy to meet the challenge posed by the foreign mercenaries, as per officials.