J&K: 3 army jawans succumb to injuries after encounter with terrorists in Kulgam

Kulgam (Jammu and Kashmir):  Three Army jawans have been killed in a gunfight with separatist militants underway in the woods of south Kashmir's Kulgam district since Friday midnight.

Confirming it, a defence spokesman here said on Saturday that the soldiers grievously injured in the clash in the Hallan forest area of Kulgam's Damhal Hanjipora area succumbed at a medical facility.

Army's Srinagar—based 15 Corps tweeted "On specific inputs regarding presence of terrorists on higher reaches of Hallan in Kulgam, operations launched by security forces on 04 Aug 23.  In exchange of firing with terrorists, three personnel sustained injuries and later succumbed. Search operations are continuing".

The fighting broke out on the eve of the 4th anniversary of Centre's stripping Jammu and Kashmir of its special status and splitting it up into two Union territories. The BJP has planned celebrations throughout the region to mark the day whereas opposition PDP has sought permission from the district authorities to hold a rally in capital Srinagar against the August 5, 2019 decisions of the Narendra Modi government.

Former chief minister and PDP president Mehbooba Mufti, however, alleged that the police is detaining her party's activists ahead of the proposed rally. Posting a video on the micro-blogging site, she wrote,  "Why is @JmuKmrPolice detaining PDP leaders on the eve of 5th August? Arif Laigroo has been taken by the police in this video. BJP is given a free run to carry out the tamasha of celebrating illegal abrogation of Article 370 in Srinagar. All this is being done to hoodwink the public opinion in the country. Just goes on to expose the facade of normalcy - a fake narrative to justify their illegal actions. @manojsinha_ @AmitShah".