Poonch encounter update: Army launches massive combing operation to trace missing JCO

Amid an ongoing anti-terror operation since Monday in Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch, the Indian army has launched a massive combing operation to trace two soldiers who went missing on Thursday.

Among the missing personnel is a junior commanding officer who the army has not identified yet.

The NDTV reported quoting unnamed sources in the army that the JCO and a soldier went missing after the Army came under heavy firing from terrorists on Thursday evening.

Two soldiers - Rifleman Yogambar Singh and rifleman Vikram Singh Negi - were killed in the encounter that erupted in Poonch-Rajouri forests, with army releasing their identity and pictures on Friday.

The report said retrieving the bodies of the fallen soldiers has proved to be a major challenge for the Army as they had to advance cautiously deep inside Nar Khas forests.

The Army launched a combing operation in Dera Ki Gali on Monday after receiving information about the presence of terrorists there. In the initial shootout, five soldiers including a junior Commissioned Officer were killed.

Also watch| More target killings in Kashmir: 2 non-local labourers shot dead in Srinagar & Pulwama

Since Thursday evening, the authorities have closed Poonch-Jammu highway as a safety measure.