JAMMU, JULY 8: Four soldiers were killed and six others were injured, two of them critically, as terrorists ambushed an Army convoy on Monday afternoon in Kathua district’s remote Badnota village in Machedi tehsil of Jammu and Kashmir.
The attack, second in the otherwise peaceful Kathua district during the last one month, came around 3.10 pm when convoy was passing through a bridge on a local nullah, sources said.
The terrorists first hurled a grenade on one of the vehicles and then immediately started firing on the soldiers. The latter too took positions and retaliated making terrorists flee inside the forests on the roadside mountains.
Ten soldiers were injured in the initial attack by terrorists and of them, four succumbed to their injuries on way to hospital, sources said.
The exchange of fire between two sides was continuing till reports last came in late evening. Reinforcements were sent to the encounter site to neutralise the terrorists who, sources said, were hiding inside the dense forests.
While there had been no official confirmation from Army or the Police, union minister Dr Jitendra Singh in a post on `X’ said “My heart goes out to the brave heart soldiers martyred in the ongoing #Kathua encounter. I am in constant touch with the authorities. Joint police & para military operation is on. My sincere appeal to the civilian population not to panic. We have full faith in our armed forces and we are always indebted to them.’’
