Two Indian Army personnel were injured in a gunfight with suspected militants in a forest village of Jammu and Kashmir’s Doda district on Thursday, reported Greater Kashmir.

Police officials said that the gunfight broke out at 2 am when militants fired upon security forces stationed in a temporary camp inside a school in Jaddan Bata village of the Kastigarh area. The gunfight lasted for more than an hour.

The suspected militants fled to the nearby forest after the gunfight.

An unidentified defence spokesperson told Greater Kashmir that one of the critically injured soldiers was evacuated to the Udhampur-based Command Hospital amid challenging weather conditions.

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Thursday’s gunfight came three days after four Army personnel were killed in a gunfight with militants in Desa forest of the district.

The security forces have been conducting a massive search operation in the district since Monday.

“All security forces on the ground are engaged in a well-coordinated operation against the terrorists with whom we had contact yesterday and today as well,” said Shridhar Patil, the deputy inspector general of police, Doda-Kishtwar, Ramban Range. “The operation is ongoing, and we expect success soon.”

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The Jammu division of the Union territory has seen a spike in militant attacks in recent months.

On July 8, four Army personnel were killed and six others were injured in the Union territory’s Kathua district after militants threw a grenade and fired at Army vehicles that were patrolling the Machedi-Kindli-Malhar.

A day earlier, one soldier was injured after an Army camp in the Rajouri district was attacked by militants.

In Kashmir division’s Kulgam district, six militants and two soldiers were also killed in two separate gunfights between July 6 and July 7.

Also read: ‘Not just a military solution’: How to tackle the Jammu militancy challenge