Encounter with Handwara: Colonel, commander among five security personnel martyred in an encounter with terrorists in northern Kashmir | India News
Rumita Patel
SRINAGAR: An army colonel and a commander were among five martyred security personnel in a meeting in a village in Handwara in northern Kashmir that also saw the removal of two terrorists, officials said Sunday.
Army officers Col Ashutosh Sharma and Commander Anuj, and Jammu and Kashmir police deputy inspector Shakeel Qazi were among those killed, they said.
Colonel Sharma was leading a team to rescue civilians who had been taken hostage by terrorists hiding in a house in the Chanjmullah area of Handwara in the Kupwara border district of northern Kashmir on Saturday, authorities said .
While the hostages were being rescued, the team, which also consisted of a Lance Naik and a Rifleman, was fired upon, which was effectively fired by security personnel at the outer cordon, they said.
In the early hours of Sunday, security forces launched a major offensive since there had been no contact with the Colonel or his team, officials said.
Two terrorists were killed in the encounter, they said.
