One army jawan and two policemen were injured after terrorists opened fire on Sunday morning in the Bhata Durian area of Poonch in Jammu and Kashmir, reported news agency ANI.
"Zia Mustafa, a Pakistani LeT terrorist was taken to the Bhata Durian for identification of terrorist hideout during the ongoing operation in which three Army jawans and a JCO were martyred," Jammu and Kashmir Police said, reported ANI.
Terrorists again opened fire on a joint team of police wherein two policemen and an army jawan sustained injuries.
"During the search when the team approached hideout, terrorists again opened fire on the joint team of police and army personnel in which two policemen and an army jawan sustained injuries. Mustafa also sustained injuries and he could not be extracted from the site due to heavy fire," Jammu and Kashmir Police said in a statement.
Meanwhile, heavy gunfire was heard as the Indian Army's counter-terrorist operation was underway in the Bhata durian forest area of Poonch district.
Despite inclement weather, the counter-insurgency operation continued on Saturday in the forest belt of Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch and Rajouri districts where nine army personnel were killed in two separate attacks by hiding terrorists last week, officials told PTI.
Two more suspected people were detained for questioning as the joint search parties of the army and local police moved cautiously in the dense forests of Mendhar and Surankote in Poonch and nearby Thanamandi in Rajouri to track down the hiding terrorists, they said.
The operation in the forest areas in the twin border districts commenced on October 11 when terrorists ambushed a search party killing five soldiers, including a Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO), in Surankote forest of Poonch before another gunfight in nearby Thanamandi on the same day. The terrorists fled both the places after the encounters.
On October 14, the terrorists struck again and killed four soldiers, including a JCO, in Nar Khas forest in Mendhar as the security forces extended the cordon and search operation to neutralise the fleeing terrorists.
Drones and helicopters were pressed into service to assist the marching troops, including para-commandos, in the jungle spread over nearly 8 km x 2 km area at a distance of four km from the Line of Control, the officials told PTI.
The entire forest belt is still under tight security cordon to neutralise the terrorists, the officials said, adding the area is mountainous and the forest is dense, making the operation difficult and dangerous.
(With inputs from ANI and PTI)
