Jammu: A commander of the Lashkar-e-Taiba, who masterminded the Dhangri and Kandi terror attacks, was killed along with his associate, while the Indian Army lost one more soldier on Thursday in the dense jungles of Kalakote in Rajouri district during an encounter that saw two army officers and two soldiers laying down their lives in the line of duty on Wednesday, officials said.

The LeT commander, who was a Pakistani national, was an expert sniper and well-trained in guerrilla warfare besides in handling IEDs. Kandi terror attacks

“A top LeT commander identified as Quari, the mastermind behind Dhangri and , along with his associate was killed in the Baajimal-Kalakote area on Thursday during an encounter with the security forces,” said a police spokesperson.

The Dhangri attack on January 1 and 2 had left seven members of the Hindu community dead. On May 5, at least five soldiers were killed in an attack during an encounter inside Kandi forest in Rajouri.

“The slain terrorist was sent to revive terrorism in the region and he was an expert IEDs, operating and hiding in caves (guerilla warfare) and a trained sniper,” said the spokesperson.

Incriminating material including arms and ammunition were recovered from his possession.

“During further searches, Quari’s associate was also killed. The dead bodies of both the terrorists have also been retrieved and taken for further medico- legal formalities,” he added.

The area is being thoroughly searched to check for any other suspicious article, support structure etc.

One more soldier was killed in action on Thursday taking the army’s toll to five, said officials.

The five have been identified as Captain MV Pranjal of Mangalore in Karnataka, Captain Shubham Gupta of Agra in UP, Havaldar Abdul Majid of Ajote in Poonch, Lance Naik Sanjay Bisht of Halli Padli in Uttarakhand’s Nainital, and paratrooper Sachin Laur of Nagaliya Giurola from UP’s Aligarh.

The two terrorists in Kalakote were first seen in the house of a late religious leader on Sunday asking for food, an official who did not wish to be named said.

“The two terrorists including Quari had visited the house on Sunday where they were seen talking to women for food. A video had also gone viral,” said the person.

On Tuesday, the terrorists also beat up a nomad Sarfaraz Ahmed in the Bajimaal area after he denied food to them. It was Sarfaraz who tipped off the security forces about the fleeing terrorists.

“While security forces were busy laying cordon around the suspected area, terrorists, who by then were well entrenched atop hills in Solki, had opened heavy fire from their automatic weapons that took a heavy toll on our officers and soldiers,” said sources.

It may be stated here that the army lost two captains, a havaldar and a lance naik on Wednesday.

Last week, a terrorist was killed in an encounter with security forces in forest area of Budhal in Rajouri district.

On September 12 and 13, security forces had gunned two terrorists in Narla area of Rajouri district.

On September 11, Northern Army commander Lt General Dwivedi had informed at the North Tech Symposium that nearly 200 terrorists were waiting across the LoC in Pakistan.

“They are waiting to infiltrate but our alert troops are deployed at the borders and we are trying to eliminate them there itself,” he had said.

Terror cases in Rajouri and Poonch

Since January this year, two border districts of Rajouri and Poonch, south of Pir Panja range, have witnessed a spike in terrorism.

January 1:

Seven civilians of Hindu community, two of them minors, were killed in firing and IED blast triggered by two armed terrorists at village Dhangri in Rajouri district.

April 20:

Five soldiers travelling in a truck were ambushed in Tota Gali in Poonch. PAFF had released a purported video showing terrorists with body cameras shooting the soldiers.

May 5 ;

Five commandos of the Para special forces were killed in an IED blast triggered by terrorists at Kandi forests in Rajouri.

July 18:

Four Pakistani terrorists were eliminated by army at Sindhara Top in Surankote tehsil of Poonch.

August 11, 2022:

Five Army jawans killed and two fidayeens eliminated during a terror attack on Army camp at Pargal in Darhal of Rajouri.

December 18, 2022:

Two civilians killed in an attack outside Alpha Gate in Rajouri.

October 11, 2021:

Five soldiers including a JCO killed in an encounter with terrorists at Chamrer forests in Surankote tehsil of Poonch district.

*October 16, 2021:

Four soldiers including a JCO killed by terrorists in Bhatta Durrian forests in Mendhar tehsil of Poonch.