Tensions escalated in the Union Territory on Tuesday night as security forces clashed with militants in Doda district, marking the third terror incident in the region within just three days.
The encounter unfolded when militants opened fire on a joint check post manned by the 4 Rashtriya Rifles and local police in the Chatergala area. Security personnel swiftly retaliated, prompting an intense gunfight that is still ongoing, according to Additional Director General of Police Anand Jain.
This latest confrontation follows a devastating militant attack on Sunday in Reasi district, where assailants ambushed a bus carrying pilgrims from the Shiv Khori temple to Katra. The assault left nine civilians dead and 41 others injured after the bus plummeted into a deep gorge. Authorities have released a sketch of one of the suspected militants.
Massive efforts are underway to neutralize the threat, with 11 teams of security forces scouring the Ranso-Poni-Treyath belt under a multi-directional cordon.
“Two terrorists, who appeared to have freshly infiltrated, surfaced in village Saida Sukhal near Koota Morh of the Police Station Hira Nagar in the late evening of June 11. They asked for water from a few houses to which villagers grew suspicious and slammed the doors on them and a few raised hue and cry. The terrorists panicked and fired randomly in the air,” ADGP Anand Jain said.
This is the first major attack that Doda district of the Chenab Valley has witnessed this year.