Army kills two militants along LoC in Jammu & Kashmir’s Poonch

The officials said army personnel noticed suspicious movement at a forward village and opened fire

Two unidentified militants were shot dead by the army along the Line of Control (LoC) in Balakot sector of Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday night.

A defence spokesperson said alert troops noticed a suspicious movement along the LoC in Balakote sector and fired some speculative shots. Soon a search operation was launched in the area after which contact with the militants was established, he said.

In a brief exchange of fire, two unidentified militants were killed, the spokesperson said and added further searches were being carried out in the area to rule out the presence of more militants.

Pertinently, the killing of two militants comes amid high alert in Poonch-Rajouri districts also known as Pir Panjal region in the wake of recent killings of six civilians including two minors in Danghri area of Rajouri.

The spokesperson said that the operations to nab militants involved in the Dhangri attack continue by the security forces in Rajouri and Poonch districts.

Meanwhile, the death toll in the Dhangri attack reached seven after one person, who was undergoing treatment at a hospital, succumbed to his injuries. The slain, as per officials, was air-lifted from Government Medical College (GMC) Rajouri to Jammu hospital.

The deceased was identified as Prince Sharma, brother of Deepak Sharma, who was earlier killed in the attack. Deepak had died on the spot.