A para commando was killed and two army soldiers were injured in an ongoing gunfight at Zurhama forests of north Kashmir’s Kupwara district on Tuesday.
A top police officer told news agency GNS that a joint team of Army's 23 Para commandos,21 RAJ RIF, 160 TA, SOG and CRPF cordoned off Gujarpati forest area in Zurhama following specific inputs about the presence of two to three militants in the area.
As the joint team intensified the searches, the hiding militants opened fire, triggering an encounter. In the ensuing encounter, an army soldier Havaldar Jitender Singh of 21 Raj Rif was killed and two soldiers were injured who were rushed to nearby Drugmulla Military Hospital for treatment.
"The militant group of Lashkar-e-Toiba headed by Saifullah were moving towards LoC to receive a group of infiltrators as per our sources," the officer said.
Army's Srinagar based defence spokesman Col Rajesh Kalia while confirming the killing of soldier and injury to two others said that the operation in the area is going on.
Meanwhile, sources said that additional reinforcement has been rushed to the area and the operation has been suspended as darkness set in.