Army loses major, kills self-styled LeT commander
The Army, which on Tuesday night lost its yet another tech-savvy valiant young Major besides injuries to six other Army personnel including a Colonel in Mendhar sector of Poonch district, this afternoon eliminated one dreaded self-styled district commander of Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Tayyaba (LeT) outfit at Bonjwah Kither forest area in Kishtwar.
The body of the slain self-styled district commander has been retrieved from the encounter site and has been identified as Mohammed Ishaq Bhatt code name “Hamza” and “Ateeq” resident of Goni Patnazi Kishtwar.
In Mendhar encounter, which is still raging, despite incurring fatal casualty the forces, however, till late Wednesday evening failed to zero in on the hiding ultras who, many believed, have managed to escape to the other side of the border taking advantage of dense forest with thick secondary growth.
Last night an Army Major Amit Kumar Thenge, resident of Chhindwara (MP), was killed while six Army personnel including a Commanding Officer (CO) of 37 Rashtriya Rifles Col Ajay Katoch were injured, one of them seriously, in the fierce gun battle with a group of 6-8 Lashkar-e-Tayyaba terrorists in Mendhar sector of Poonch district.
28-year old Major Thenge was commissioned in the Corps of Signals on June 9, 2007. The officer, a B-Tech graduate, belonged to Chhindwara district in Madhya Pradesh.
The “seek and destroy” operation was launched in Beri Rakh forest area, following a tip off about the presence of a group of 6-8 militants, who had sneaked into the Indian Territory from across the Line of Control (LoC).
Sources maintained that the help of helicopters for reconnaissance of the forest was also taken Tuesday morning and after identifying the hideout of militants, seek and destroy operation was launched.
As the troops zeroed in the suspected hideout of militants, the militants opened indiscriminate fire and also lobed grenades. The troops also retaliated ensuing in fierce gun battle. While two officers and five other ranks were injured, Major Thenge succumbed to his injuries at the Military Hospital.
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