J&K: Army major, 3 soldiers martyred in overnight encounter

Two militants from the Pakistan-based outfit have been trapped and four army jawans, including a Major, have been martyred in an ongoing gunfight with JeM.

Four soldiers including an officer were killed in an overnight encounter in Pulwama in Jammu and Kashmir, the police have told NDTV. Terrorists opened fire after security forces zeroed in on two to three terrorists hiding in the Pinglan area. The firing has stopped and search operations are going on.

A cordon and search operation was launched late last night by army, police and CRPF personnel after a tip off that terrorists were hiding in the area.

A civilian was also reportedly killed in the encounter said police sources.

The encounter in Pulwama comes four days after the terror attack, which killed over 40 personnel of the Central Reserve Police Forces (CRPF) on the Jammu-Srinagar Highway.

The convoy of the CRPF jawans was targeted by a Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist, triggering a wave of anger across the country. The suicide bomber, Adil Ahmad Dar, drove up next to the bus carrying the jawans and detonated around 60 kg of powerful RDX.

After the terror attack, the CRPF has decided to tweak the standard operating procedures (SOP) framed to secure its convoys. “We have decided to add new features to our convoy movement to and from Kashmir,” CRPF Director General RR Bhatnagar told news agency PTI.

“Apart from traffic control, there will be changes in the timings of convoy, their halt locations and movement in coordination with other security forces like the Army and the J-K police,” Mr Bhatnagar added.