Officials said that a joint party of the security forces was laying a cordon around Badimarg village in Yaripora area of Kulgam district when hiding terrorists fired at them triggering an encounter which is still going on.

An encounter took place on Tuesday also between the security forces and the terrorists in Nadimarg area of Bandipora district.

Wednesday’s gunfight is the 6th back to back encounter in the Kashmir Valley. This is in addition to the one in the Kishtwar district of Jammu region where one JCO of the army’s 2 Para was martyred and 3 other soldiers injured.

The massive search operation started in Kishtwar district has entered its 7th day on Wednesday. The search operation was started when two Village Defence Committee (VDC) members, Kuldeep Kumar and Nazir Ahmad were abducted from village Ohli and then brutally shot dead in the forest area of Keshwan in Kishtwar district.

The VDCs are groups of local villagers who are provided with weapons by the police in far-flung areas of Jammu division to protect themselves and their families from terrorists.

In order to strengthen the VDCs, J&K police are equipping them with automatic weapons and better training for self defence.

The terrorists have been viewing the civilians of the VDCs as their potential enemies since the civilian population in far-flung areas of the Jammu division has cordial relations with the army and the security forces.

In times of natural calamities or medical emergencies, the army and the security forces always lend a much-needed helping hand to the civilian population. The attacks on unarmed civilians in Kathua, Doda, Kishtwar, Poonch, Rajouri and Udhampur districts in the past six months are seen as the result of increasing frustrations among the terror handlers across the border.