Poonch encounter: Army releases pictures of slain soldiers, report says officer's body not retrieved yet

The army on Friday released pictures of two soldiers who lost their life in an anti-terror operation in Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch.

The army in a statement said Rifleman Vikram Singh Negi and Rifleman Yogambar Singh were critically injured and later succumbed to their injuries.

While 26-year-old Rifleman Vikram Singh Negi is resident of Tehri Garhwal, 27-year-old Rifleman Yogambar Singh is resident of Chamoli in Uttarakhand.

A PTI report quoting a defence spokesperson had said that a junior commissioned officer and a jawan were critically injured during a counter-terrorist operation in the NarKhas forest area in Mendhar sub-division on Thursday evening.

The spokesperson had said while the body of the jawan has been retrieved, that of the JCO is yet to be retrieved from the area.

The Jammu and Kashmir police had on Tuesday said terrorists involved in a recent attack on security forces in Poonch, in which five Army personnel including a JCO were killed, were present in the area for the last two to three months.

The area is mountainous and the forest is dense, which makes the operation difficult and dangerous.

Several counter-terrorist operations and encounters have taken place in the twin border districts of Rajouri and Poonch this year.