Rajouri (Jammu and Kashmir): Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday arrived in Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir to take stock of the security situation after five soldiers of the Indian Army were killed in an explosion during an ongoing encounter in the woods of Kandi area of the district on Friday.
According to sources, the defence minister landed in Jammu where he was was received by Lt Governor Manoj Sinha, Army Chief General Manoj Pande Singh and other top officials. The Defence Minister later reached Rajouri to take stock of the security situation in the backdrop of killing of five soldiers in the ongoing encounter in the Kandi forest area of Rajouri.
Five army personnel were killed and a major-rank officer was injured during a combing operation -- 'Operation Trinetra' -- in the Kandi area on Friday. An army spokesman on Saturday said that a holed up terrorist was killed and one more is believed to be injured in the encounter. The defence minister will likely chair a high-level security meeting to review the overall security situation in Jammu and Kashmir, especially in Rajouri and Poonch.
Also read: Amid an exchange of fire, Northern Army Commander visits encounter site in J-K's Rajouri
The Defence Ministers's visit comes hours after Lt Gen Dwivedi visited the encounter site to take stock of the situation. Significantly, 35 people, including 26 soldiers have been killed in eight attacks since October 2021 in Rajouri and Poonch districts. The twin districts were declared terrorism-free more than a decade ago, but have been rocked by a series of deadly attacks by terrorists in the past 18 months.
Besides Saturday's killings, five soldiers were killed and another was injured on Apr. 20 when an army truck carrying fruits and vegetables for Iftar was bombed and fired with bullets by terrorists. In Dhangri village in Rajouri seven civilians were killed in two attacks on Jan. 1 this year. Last year, five army personnel and two terrorists were killed in a suicide attack at a security camp at Pargal-Darhal area of Rajouri on Aug. 11, while two civilians were killed in a firing incident outside an army camp near Rajouri town.
Four blasts rocked Kotranka in Rajouri district between March and April last year. All these cases were worked out by police with the arrest of the accused. Nine army personnel were killed in two separate encounters with terrorists in Bhatta Durrian in Mendhar tehsil of Poonch districts in October 2021. Two army personnel, one of them a lieutenant, were killed in a mine blast in Nowshera sector of Rajouri on Oct. 30, 2021.
Rajouri and Poonch districts have witnessed more killings of Army personnel than the militancy-hit Kashmir Valley.
