Army Colonel injured in Kashmir gun-battle

An army Colonel was injured on Tuesday in a gun-battle with separatist guerrillas in north Kashmir's Kupwara district, the police said.

"The commandant of 41 Rashtriya Rifles (RR) was injured in an encounter with militants in Wanigah forest area of Kupwara district today (Tuesday)," a senior police official told IANS here.

"A constable of the special operations group (SOG) of the state police was also injured in the operation against the militants which was still going on."

The constable said he was injured while helping to evacuate the senior army officer.

The police official said Colonel Santosh Kumar was leading the operation against the guerrillas from the front when he was injured.

Army authorities confirmed that the senior officer sustained critical injuries in the gunfight and has been airlifted to the army's base hospital in Srinagar.

The security forces had surrounded a large forest area in Kupwara district on last Friday following reports that a group of heavily armed guerrillas was hiding inside the forest after infiltrating into Indian territory from across the line of control (LoC).

Two Rashtriya Rifles soldiers were injured on Friday in the security operation against the guerrillas. One soldier of the territorial army was also injured in the operation.