The home minister also reviewed the preparations for the annual Amarnath pilgrimage scheduled to begin on June 29.
At least one soldier of the Rashtriya Rifles was killed and another was injured in an encounter in the Rajwad forests of Handwara in Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday morning.This is the 30th encounter in the last 90 days in the state. The encounter, which started at approximately 3 pm on Wednesday, was going on even after 20 hours. Based on a tip-off, the Jammu and Kashmir Special Operation Group and the 22nd battalion of the Rashtriya Rifles launched the operation.
The sources said the ultras targeted the officer's vehicle, which also suffered damages in the explosion triggering panic in the north Kashmir township.
Colonel Manpreet Singh, Commanding Officer of 19 Rashtriya Rifles, Major Ashish Dhonack, and Deputy Superintendent Humayun Bhat were killed in the gunfight with terrorists that ensued in Garol area of Anantnag district early Wednesday.
Defence spokesman Lt. Col. A K Mathur said Sofi had been killed in a cross firing incident between the troops and the militants. Col Mathur, however, said the army is also investigating the incident.
'Killed #terrorist identified as Aqib Mustaq Bhat of #Pulwama (A category). He initially worked for HM #terror outfit, nowadays he had been working with TRF. #Killer of late Sanjay Sharma #neutralised,' Kumar tweeted.
Five persons, including four soldiers and a militant, were killed in a fierce gunbattle early on Tuesday morning in Poonch district, officials said.
President Droupadi Murmu has approved 76 gallantry awards, including four Kirti Chakras posthumously and 11 Shaurya Chakras to personnel of the security forces, on the eve of the 77th Independence Day, officials said.
In a case of mistaken identity, troops of the Rashtriya Rifles on Monday shot dead an elderly person in Badgam district of Jammu and Kashmir sparking protests by locals, official sources said in Srinagar.
Security forces found two bodies from the Gadole forest area in Jammu and Kashmir's Anantnag district on the sixth day of an anti-terror operation on Monday even as Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha vowed to avenge the death of three officers and a soldier, who were killed by terrorists in an encounter.
A search operation in Thanamandi belt turned into a fierce encounter after the terrorists opened fire on the forces, who retaliated, Army officials said.
A retired Indian colonel working with the United Nations was killed in Gaza when the vehicle he was travelling in came under attack in strife-torn Rafah, the 'first international' casualty for the world body since the start of the Israel-Hamas conflict.
India and Pakistan haven't played a bilateral series since 2012/13, after that series the bilateral cricket ties between India and Pakistan have been suspended due to the heightened diplomatic tensions between the two neighbours.
A junior commissioned officer and a militant were killed in a fierce gunfight in the forest area of frontier Kupwara district on Tuesday.
Inspector general of police, Kashmir, Vijay Kumar said the slain ultras were members of proscribed terror outfit LeT.
Present vice chief Lt Gen BS Raju would be succeeding Lt Gen AS Bhinder who is superannuating on February 28 at the South Western Army Command.
The cordon and search operation (CASO) at Kralkhod village in south Kashmir's Anantnag district on Saturday was suspended and a medical officer accompanying the troops sent to attend to the 11-year-old, officials said.
The Centre and state governments have shied away from highlighting the ISI's attempts to displace Hindus and create corridors of sympathetic demography to further their designs especially along the communication arteries from Jammu to the Kashmir Valley.
The planned phased withdrawal of the Army from certain areas of the Jammu region has been shelved "indefinitely" in view of terror attacks being orchestrated from across the border, officials said in Srinagar.
A commanding officer of the counter insurgency Rashtriya Rifles, a cop and two militants were killed and a soldier was seriously wounded in a fierce encounter in south Kashmir's Tral area on Tuesday afternoon.
Northern Army commander Lieutenant General Upendra Dwivedi on Monday said the targeted killings of Kashmiri Pandits and non-local labourers by militants was to keep terrorism alive in Kashmir.
Security forces launched a massive assault with mortar shells to flush out terrorists responsible for the killing of four personnel from a hilly forest in Jammu and Kashmir's Anantnag district on Saturday, officials said.
The mortal remains of Major Ashish Dhonchak, who died fighting terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir, were consigned to the flames on Friday with full military honours at his native village in Panipat as thousands of mourners joined the grieving family and officers for his final journey.
The operation to neutralise the terrorists involved in the encounter that led to the killing of four security forces personnel continued for the second day on Thursday as the police claimed to have "encircled" two Lashkar-e-Tayiba terrorists in the higher reaches of Anantnag district of south Kashmir.
A soldier's family in Jammu and Kashmir's Kishtwar was preparing for his marriage in December but fate had something else in store as the braveheart laid down his life fighting terrorists in Rajouri district.
Two terrorists believed to be behind Sunday's killing of a Kashmiri Pandit were gunned down early on Tuesday in an encounter with security forces inside a mosque in south Kashmir's Pulwama district. An Indian Army jawan was also killed.
Security forces launched a cordon and search operation after receiving specific intelligence about the presence of terrorists in Zainpora area of Shopian, they said.
In the wreath laying ceremony for the slain Colonel Santosh Mahadik in Srinagar, all the officers and the jawans of the 41 RR paid their tributes to him.
Army troops on Sunday busted a terrorist hideout and recovered arms and ammunition in the forest belt of Jammu region.
The sources said two group of seven to eight terrorists, are believed to have engineered the attack.
More than 40 persons have been detained for questioning as part of a massive operation currently underway to track down the terrorists involved in the Poonch terror attack, officials said on Monday.
According to officials in the know of the development, the findings of a Court of Inquiry and his conviction and sentencing were confirmed by the higher Army authorities on November 11 as required under the law.
An army jawan was Tuesday killed in accidental firing in Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir, a senior police official said.
According to reports, the jawans belonged to 13 Rashtriya Rifles.
In a joint operation, army troops and police have busted a militant hideout and recovered a cache of ammunition and explosive material in Kishtwar district of Jammu and Kashmir.
The nightlong fierce gunfight in north Kashmir Kupwara district ended early on Tuesday morning after the three holed up militants were killed.
One civilian was also killed after he caught in the crossfire.
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