Five security personnel, including Colonel and Major-rank officers, were killed in clashes with terrorists in Srinagar-Jammu and Kashmir. Authorities said the clashes took place in the village of Handwara in northern Kashmir. Two other soldiers and the Jammu and Kashmir Police Jawan were the other officers who were killed.
Army Commander Colonel Ashutosh Sharma, the commanding officer of 21 political rifles, has been a part of several anti-terror operations, military officials said. Two terrorists were killed in the encounter. A group of 21 political rifles clashed with terrorists at a home in Handwara. Those who lived in the house were shifted to safer places.
The Indian Army is the first to lose so many troops in a recent operation in Kashmir. The Army’s 21 Rifle Rifles unit has undertaken the mission of rescuing some of the terrorists held hostage at the home in Handwara. Troops entered the house and rescued the hostages. They were killed in a subsequent encounter.
