Militants killed an army para-commando and injured three soldiers in an ambush in Jammu’s Kishtwar on Sunday.

The army and police said it was the same group of militants that had killed village defence guards Nazir Ahmad and Kuldeep Kumar in Kishtwar’s Ooli Kuntwara forest area on Thursday.

The development in Kishtwar came at a time the security forces were locked in another gunfight with militants at Harwan in Srinagar.

The encounter in Kishtwar followed a pattern of militants taking advantage of dense vegetation and dangerous forest terrain to lure the soldiers into an ambush and inflict casualties.

The army’s Jammu-based White Knight Corps said Naib Subedar Rakesh Kumar, a commando from 2 Para Special Forces, was killed in Kishtwar. Sources said three soldiers were injured. The operation was still underway till the filing of this report.

In a post on X, the White Knight Corps said: “Based on specific intelligence input regarding the presence of terrorists, a joint operation was launched by security forces in general area Bhart Ridge, Kishtwar. This is the same group which had abducted and killed 02 (two) innocent villagers (village defence guards). Contact was established and firefight ensued.”

Kishtwar and adjoining districts — Doda in Jammu and Anantnag in Kashmir — have witnessed an unprecedented spurt in militancy this year, with several groups of militants hiding in an endless maze of forests.

Srinagar district on Sunday woke up to another gunfight in its Zabarwan forest belt in Ishber Nishat. The army said suspicious activity was observed by troops and militants opened fire on being challenged. “Own troops effectively retaliated. Operation is in progress,” the Srinagar-based Chinar Corps posted on X.