Security forces continued a massive search operation on Tuesday in a forest area connecting the twin border districts of Rajouri and Poonch in Jammu and Kashmir, where five soldiers including a junior commissioned officer were killed in a gunfight the previous day, officials said.
Pakistan's western front continues to remain unstable and it fishing in troubled waters of Afghanistan is going to come and bite it in the future, Army Chief General M M Naravane said on Thursday.
Officials said gunshots were heard as the joint search parties of the Army and the police resumed the operation in Poonch's Mendhar area. However, it was not immediately clear whether it was speculative firing by the search parties or fresh contact was established with the terrorists, they said.
Defence forces are the organisations that adopt the most transparent recruitment process, the Delhi high court on Tuesday orally observed while fixing July 20 to hear several pleas challenging the Centre's Agnipath scheme.
The Delhi high court on Thursday reserved its judgment on a batch of petitions challenging the Centre's Agnipath scheme for recruitment in armed forces.
The Delhi high court on Friday said it will first hear the pleas directly challenging the Centre's Agnipath scheme and then decide those concerning the recruitment processes for the armed forces under certain previous advertisements.
Several counter-terrorist operations and encounters have taken place in the twin border districts of Rajouri and Poonch this year.
"I am proud of my husband. He laid down his life for the country," says Mandeep Kaur, wife of Naik Mandeep Singh, who was among the five soldiers killed in a fierce gunfight with terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district on Monday.
A Defence spokesman said the ultras opened heavy fire on search parties resulting in critical injuries to the JCO and four other personnel.
Union Home Secretary R K Singh has said that strict action will be taken against those who are found involved in the Sopore custodial death and Surankote fake encounter cases in Jammu and Kashmir.
As the counter-insurgency operation in the forest belt of Jammu and Kashmir's twin border districts of Poonch and Rajouri entered the ninth day on Tuesday, public announcements were made in Mendhar asking local residents to stay indoors for their safety, officials said.
The duo aspires to join 'operation all out' against terrorists in Kashmir and fight against the enemies of the nation.
In another case, the bullet-riddled body of an armyman was found at Daraba in Poonch sector with police saying the jawan died under "suspicious circumstances".
Four security personnel and a Hizbul Mujahideen militant were killed on Monday in two gunbattles in Poonch and Ramban districts of Jammu and Kashmir. Acting on a tip-off, army troops and police launched a joint cordon and search operation in Tarawali forest belt in Surankote on Sunday night, Sub Divisional Police Officer of Surankote Parbeet Singh told PTI.
The troops busted a natural hideout in which a large cache of arms, ammunition and other warlike stores was recovered.
"They (those who celebrated the win) don't have anything to do with them (Pakistanis)... It was done to provoke the BJP. They were children and young boys and this should serve as an eye-opener for the BJP," Abdullah said at a public meeting in Surankote in Poonch district.
The report published in the gazettes of India appeared in local newspapers on Monday and showed that Habba Kadal seat in Kashmir division and Suchetgarh seat in Jammu province had been restored.
A delegation of 10 surpanches from Jammu and Kashmir called on Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday afternoon and briefed him about the threat perception to their lives by the terrorists who have gunned down 7 surpanches in last few weeks. According to sources, the meeting took place at Rahul.'s behest.
The army on Wednesday apprehended a Lashkar-e-Tayiba activist in the Mendhar area of district Poonch while he was trying to cross over to India. Mukhtiar Ahmed, who originally hails from Surankot area, had crossed over to Pakistan in 2002 and joined LeT there, officials said.
The police on Tuesday exhumed the body of the victim of the alleged fake encounter in Poonch district and took samples for a DNA test to ascertain his identity. After the approval of the district administration, the body of the August 7 encounter victim was dug out in Surankote belt of Poonch district, in the presence of Additional Superintendent of Police Yougal Manhas, Magistrate (Tehsildar) Nisar Ahmed Khan and other officials on Tuesday afternoon, said the police.
The top Lashkar-e-Tayiba militant commander claimed to be have been killed by the army and police in a joint operation on Sunday in Jammu region turned out to be a mentally challenged civilian.
"Border Security Force detects a tunnel along the international border in Hiranagar sector of Kathua. "More details awaited," officials said.
Army troops busted a hideout in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir and recovered arms and ammunition from the place, police said in Jammu on Wednesday.
Gurez constituency in the once terrorist-infested Bandipora district recorded the highest voting -- 74 per cent -- followed by Mendhar and Poonch (73), Surankote (68), Nobra (66) Leh, Kargil and Zanskar (all 60 per cent), Bandipora(57) and Sonawari (46)
Veteran Gujjar leader Aslam Choudhary, a six-time legislator, is engaged in a do-or-die contest to secure back the Congress' lost electoral turf in the mountain-locked Surankote constituency, which goes to polls in first phase on Monday.
Police found that Zakir was a fake militant who along with his accomplished adopted names of some militants currently in PoK.
The recoveries included four under barrel grenade launchers, two remote control IED boxes and some ammunition.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will campaign for the Bharatiya Janata Party in the second phase of assembly elections in Udhampur and Poonch districts of Jammu and Kashmir on November 28.
Five persons, including four soldiers and a militant, were killed in a fierce gunbattle early on Tuesday morning in Poonch district, officials said.
The police say the man arrested was entrusted with the task of establishing a terror network in Mumbai.
Fifteen passengers were killed on the spot, a police official said, adding that the injured had been rushed to a nearby hospital.
President Kalam also presented 15 Param Vishist Seva Medals, four Kirti Chakras, one bar to Ati Vishist Seva Medal, 26 AVSMs and 33 Shaurya Chakras.
The ultras fired from their positions on the security forces, who retaliated killing 10 militants on the spot.
In another incident, terrorists fired rockets from a hilltop at the police station in Surankote, Poonch, on Saturday night, police said.
