Five soldiers were killed in action and three were injured during an encounter with terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch district on Thursday (21 December).

The gunfight began when terrorists launched an attack on two military vehicles passing through Dera Ki Gali in the Poonch district of Rajouri, at 3.45 pm on Thursday.

The Army had been carrying out an operation in the vicinity of Dera Ki Gali, also referred to as the DKG area, starting from Wednesday night.

“Based on hard intelligence, a joint operation was launched in the general area of DKG last night. Contact has been established this evening, and an encounter is in progress,” a defence spokesperson said.

Last month, five Army personnel including two Captains were killed after the security forces launched an anti-terror operation in Rajouri’s Kalakote.

In April and May this year, 10 soldiers were killed in action in twin attacks in the Rajouri-Poonch region. 

In the last two years, over 35 soldiers have made the supreme sacrifice in the anti-terror operations in the region.