Amid the encounter between the security personnel and terrorists in J&K, Colonel Ashutosh Sharma, Commanding Officer of 21 Rashtriya Rifles unit lost his life on Saturday in the Handwara area of Jammu and Kashmir. He had been part of several successful counter-terrorist operations in the past, reported ANI.
A Colonel and a Major were among five security personnel killed in an encounter at a village in north Kashmir's Handwara area, officials said on Sunday.
Two terrorists were also killed in the encounter at the Chanjmulla area of Handwara, which is part of north Kashmir's Kupwara district, they said.
The Army officers were leading a team to rescue civilians who had been taken hostage by the terrorists, the officials said.
Now, security forces including para commandos started the 'first light intervention' on Sunday to flush out the holed up terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir's Kupwara district where a standoff had been going on between the holed up terrorists and the security forces since midnight.
"Firing exchanges had stopped around 12 a.m. today and since three army soldiers and two local policemen are also inside the house which the terrorists are using as a fortified bunker, room intervention by the para commandos is being carried out with utmost caution," a top intelligence officer told IANS.