Militants Break Into House In J&K's Ramban District, Killed Later; One Soldier Martyred

At least five suspected militants, armed with grenades and rifles, holed up in a house in Jammu and Kashmir's Ramban district on Saturday after targeting a Territorial Army patrol in Batote area.

Security forces have cordoned off the area and traffic movement has been stalled. (Image: ANI)

Jammu: At least five suspected militants, armed with grenades and rifles, holed up in a house in Jammu and Kashmir's Ramban district on Saturday after targeting a Territorial Army patrol in Batote area. According to reports, as the security forces retaliated, the militants fled towards the Baglihar dam, before taking refuge at a civilian’s residence. However, it has been confirmed that three out of the five terrorists have been killed by the security forces after a long operation. As per recent update, one soldier has lost his life in the cross-firing with the terrorists and three others have been injured. Two other militants are on the run. All hostages were rescued safely by the armed forces. Confirming about the incident, a civilian in Batote area of Ramban told news agency ANI, "Three people in civil dress and guns in hands went to a neighbouring house, all the members of their families came out, their father is held in the house. Army personnel just rescued us. Firing is underway."

#UPDATE Jammu Inspector General of police (IG) Mukesh Singh: Three terrorists have been eliminated in Batote town of Ramban district of Jammu Zone. https://t.co/7Pd40KS6Sn

— ANI (@ANI) September 28, 2019

Security forces have cordoned off the area and traffic movement has been stalled from Jammu side. Officials have informed locals to remain inside their houses as a safety measure for the hostages inside and others. A gunfight is underway and Special Operations Group and Army are keeping a watch on the movement of the terrorists. According to the Public Relations Officer (PRO) Defence, Jammu, today at around 7:30 am three suspicious individuals, tried to stop a civil vehicle at Batote on National Highway (NH) 244. The civilian did not stop the vehicle and later informed the force about the presence of two suspicious individuals on the highway in Batote of Ramban district, leading to a brief exchange of fire. "Soon after that, the quick reaction team reacted promptly, established contact with the two individuals and an exchange of fire took place," the defence spokesperson said. An exchange of fire took place between the Army and two suspected terrorists in a village along the Jammu-Kishtwar national highway on Saturday morning, following which a massive search operation was launched in the area, officials said. Reinforcements from the Army and police have rushed to the spot and the whole area has been cordoned off to neutralise the suspected terrorists who tried to flee after the initial exchange of firing, the officials said. There were no immediate report of any casualty in the incident, the officials added. The movement of the traffic on the highway was stopped following the incident as a precautionary measure.  Reports suggest that security forces have launched joint operations against terrorists in Ramban, Doda and Ganderbal areas of Jammu and Kashmir, operations are still on.