Such incident before I-Day matter of great concern: Priyanka on Doda encounter

New Delhi, Aug 14 (PTI) Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Wednesday expressed concern over security forces’ encounter with terrorists in Jammu’s Doda and asserted that the whole country is united against terrorism and the Centre should take concrete steps against it.

“The news of the martyrdom of an Indian Army officer in an encounter with terrorists in Doda, Jammu and Kashmir is extremely saddening. May God give peace to the departed soul and give strength to the family of the martyr to bear this sorrow,” Priyanka Gandhi said in a post in Hindi on X.

In the last four months, a total of 83 terrorist incidents have taken place in Jammu and Kashmir in which 20 soldiers were martyred and 14 civilians were also killed, she said.

“Such an incident before our Independence Day is a matter of great concern. The whole country is united against terrorism. The central government should take strong and concrete steps,” she said.

An Army captain and a terrorist were killed in an ongoing operation in the higher reaches of Jammu region’s Doda district on Wednesday, officials said.

A civilian was also injured in the encounter that broke out on the eve of Independence Day and is the latest in a series of incidents in the Jammu region that has witnessed a spike in violence of late.

This is the fourth encounter in recent days in the Udhampuri-Doda-Kishtwar region of Jammu and Kashmir.

Bullets rang out on Wednesday morning in a thickly-forested area during a cordon-and-search operation (CASO) launched by a joint team of security personnel to track down a group of foreign terrorists hiding in the Shivgarh-Assar belt, the officials said.