Kupwara encounter: Five special forces, 5 terrorists killed in intense close-quarter battle along LoC

In one of the most ferocious encounters along the Line of Control, a squad of Indian Army Special Forces soldiers killed five heavily armed terrorists in Kashmir. Unfortunately, all five soldiers were also killed in the operation.

Details shared with NDTV point that the Army Special Forces were deployed after, "footprints were noticed near the Line of Control" on April 1. The protective fence in the area which prevents terrorists from entering was submerged in snow. Army sources say the area where the incursion took place has a "razor sharp ridge line where all routes are cut off due to high snow levels."

The group of terrorist "attempted to exploit the inclement weather as it was snowing" for two days in the area, as per sources.

Search party were brought out and soldiers made contact with the terrorists at 1 pm on 1st April and retrieved five bags but lost contact with the terrorists. Extra troops were brought in and the area was sealed off.

On 3rd April, troops picked up the spoor again at 4:30 pm and again at 6:30 pm on 4th April, according to sources.

Given the terrain and the obstacles in the operation, the army brought in Para Special Forces at its disposal.

"Based on visuals from an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, special troops staged forward to the nearest Battalion Headquarters by air [helicopter]" as the battalion remains cut-off because of heavy snow in the area, sources said.

"At first light on 5 April, one squad following the footsteps on the snow failed to realise that they were on a cornice", they added. The cornice broke and the soldiers of the Special Forces squad fell into a stream.

"As luck would have it, where they fell, the terrorists were sitting right there. This led to a firefight, a close quarter battle at virtually point blank range," sources said.

Regardless of the fall, the Army Special Forces were able to enter into combat with the terrorists."All five terrorists were killed. However, the complete squad, five in all, were killed in action," sources said.

The corpses of the soldiers and the terrorists were recovered within two to three metres from one another.

Soldiers who lost their lives in the encounter named Operation Randori Behak are as follows:

1. Sub Sanjeev Kumar, a resident of Himachal Pradesh

2. Hav. Davendra Singh, from Uttarakhand

3. Sepoy Bal krishan from Himachal Pradesh

4. Sepoy Amit Kumar from Utarakhand

5. Sepoy Chhatrapal Singh from Rajasthan

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