3 CRPF personnel martyred, 4 injured in terrorist attack in Kupwara
JAMMU: NEW DELHI : Three CRPF personnel were martyred and seven injured after a patrolling party of the paramilitary force was attacked by terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir’s Handwara on Monday.
According to reports, terrorists opened fire on a CRPF patrol party near Qaziabad area of Handwara. The area was cordoned off following the attack on the forces and an additional reinforcement has been rushed to the spot to track down the terrorists. According to officials, paramilitary troopers retaliated immediately leading to an exchange of firing between two sides for several minutes.
The encounter comes after a day after the death of five security personnel, including two army officers, in the same area in a face-off with terrorists that began on Saturday. An unidentified body has also been recovered from the spot. In Saturday’s encounter, two senior army officers – a colonel and a major – were among five security personnel who lost their lives.
A terrorist was also killed in the retaliatory firing; however, an official confirmation on the same from CRPF remains awaited. According to CRPF officials, at around 5:30 pm today, terrorists opened fire on 92 Battalion CRPF at Wangam-Qaziabad in Kralgund area.
While two CRPF jawans were killed on the spot, one succumbed to his injuries while he was being rushed to a hospital. A total of four CRPF personnel were injured in the attack. The CRPF unit repulsed the attack and reinforcements from other security agencies have reached the area, officials said.”Encounter is underway. We have suffered some casualties,” said a CRPF officer.
According to an army official, a few terrorists had taken some civilians as hostage inside a house in Changimulla at Handwara of Kupwara district. Upon receiving a tip-off, a joint operation was launched by the Army and the Jammu and Kashmir Police.
A team comprising of five Army and police personnel entered the target area occupied by the terrorists to evacuate the civilians and successfully extricated them, he said said.
However, during the process, the team came under a heavy volume of fire by the terrorists and in the ensuing firefight, two terrorists were eliminated and the five Army personnel and a policeman were killed in the line of duty, the army said.
A joint anti-terrorist operation by the armed forces and the J&K Police was carried out in the Handwara area of the district in north Kashmir, about 70 km from capital Srinagar, an official statement said, adding that the five-member team was able to rescue several civilians.Two terrorists were killed during the joint operation.
(Bureau REport with Agency Inputs ).
