Two army personnel were killed and another soldier was injured in a gunfight with militants inside the Guddar forest in south Kashmir’s Kulgam on Monday.

Both militants involved in the gunfight were killed in retaliatory fire.

The gunfight came less than a month after Kulgam was rocked by one of the longest operations in years in Kashmir, which had lasted for nearly a fortnight and left two soldiers dead and 10 personnel injured.

Security forces had to quietly call off last month’s gunfight after a group of highly trained Pakistani militants managed to escape, leaving the security administration red-faced. A local militant had died during the operation.

Unlike last month’s operation, security forces succeeded in eliminating two militants on Monday in a matter of a few hours, but not before losing two soldiers in the gunfight.

The army’s Srinagar-based Chinar Corps said a joint operation had been launched by the Indian Army, Jammu and Kashmir Police and the CRPF in the Guddar forests on the back of specific intelligence inputs. The Chinar Corps confirmed the death of soldiers Subedar Perbhat Gaur and Lance Naik Narender Sindhu “in the line of duty for
the nation”.

“Their courage and dedication will forever inspire us. The Indian Army expresses deepest condolences and stands in solidarity with the bereaved families,” a defence spokesperson in Srinagar said. The army said the operation continues.

“Vigilant troops observed suspicious activity and, upon being challenged, terrorists opened fire, prompting a fierce exchange of gunfire during which one terrorist was eliminated and a junior commissioned officer suffered injuries,” the army had said earlier on Monday. Hours later, the army reported the death of another militant and injury to another soldier and said he was “being evacuated for requisite medical care”.