The Evening Wrap: Army officers killed in Rajouri encounter

Two Army officers were killed and two soldiers were injured in an ongoing anti-militancy operation to flush out the hiding militants in a hamlet in the Pir Panjal valley’s Rajouri district on November 22. The Army said the hiding militants were also injured in the firefight. A Jammu-based Army spokesman said the security forces launched joint operations in the Gulabgarh forest of the Kalakote area on November 19 following “specific intelligence” about the presence of militants and contact with the hiding militants was established on November 22. “An intense firefight ensued. The terrorists have been injured and surrounded and operations are in progress, amidst acts of valour and sacrifice by own bravehearts in trying to prevent collateral damage to women and children in the highest traditions of the Indian Army,” the Army spokesman said. Official sources said two Army officers were killed and two soldiers were injured in the gunfight. “The injured were shifted to hospital for treatment,” they added. The condition of one of the injured is stated to be “critical”. Official sources said the security forces spotted the militants at Baji Maal hamlet of Rajouri’s Kalakote area around 10 a.m. The encounter site is dotted with trees and natural slopes. The number of militants could be up to three, they said. However, the Army has not officially confirmed the number of casualties of the soldiers. The casualties and the exact number of militants could not be ascertained immediately. The Army’s elite PARA force is also part of the operation. The anti-militancy operation is likely to prolong into the night as the militants kept firing till late November 22 evening at the positions of the security forces. Officials said multi-layer cordon has been thrown around the encounter site to ensure the militants do not flee from the spot taking advantage of the darkness. The Pir Panjal valley has witnessed a heighted militancy since 2020. This year has seen a spike in the stand-offs between the militants and the security forces. One estimate suggested 13 security personnel and 22 militants were killed in the Jammu region this year. Rescue work enters final stretch at Uttarkashi tunnel, hopes high Ambulances were on standby and doctors summoned to the disaster site as a multi-agency effort to rescue 41 men trapped in the Silkyara tunnel appeared close to success on November 22 evening. At a press briefing around 4 p.m., officials at Silkyara said another six-metre section of the rescue pipe had been inserted as an auger machine drilled through debris of the collapsed stretch of the tunnel. Going by the figures given earlier in the day, this indicated that 45 metre of the escape passage had been created — out of the estimated 57 metres stretch of debris beyond which the worker are trapped for more than 10 days. In Delhi, a press release reporting the progress till 2 p.m. said the steel pipe had been inserted up to the 42-metre mark. It said 67% of the auger drilling was completed. Once the pipe, which is a little under a metre wide is inserted, workers can crawl out through it. A team of 15 doctors, including chest specialist, has been deployed at the site in anticipation of the evacuation. Twelve ambulances were on standby at the spot, and the plan was to keep a fleet of 40 ready. A helicopter was also expected to be earmarked for the operation. A makeshift eight-bed hospital has been set up in the vicinity of the under-construction tunnel on the Char Dham route. A 41-bed hospital has been readied at the Community Health Centre in Chinyalisaur in this district. All the hospitals in the district as well as AIIMS, Rishikesh have been kept on high alert. At the Silkyara briefing, Bhaskar Khulbe, a former advisor with the Prime Minister’s Office, was upbeat, saying that another six-metre section of the rescue pipe had been inserted over the past hour. “Hopefully the next two-three hours will be comfortable in terms of assembling for the next push and attaining what all of us are waiting for,” he said, referring to the continuing process of pushing in steel pipe sections. He predicted “similar good news” at a press briefing later in the evening. NHIDCL MD Mahmood Ahmed and Mr. Khulbe had told reporters earlier in the day that 39 metres had been drilled through the rubble to lay three 800-mm wide pipes. The stretch between 40 metres and 50 metres was the “most crucial,” they said. On the alternative plan, Mr. Ahmed said about eight metres of horizontal drilling had taken from the Barkot end of the tunnel – a much longer process that could take several days. Mr. Ahmed had said at least three more steel pipes of six-metre length each need to be laid through the rubble to reach the trapped workers from the Silkyara end. Drilling from the Silkyara-end through the rubble was put on hold November 17 afternoon when the American-made auger machine encountered a hard obstacle, creating vibrations in the tunnel that caused safety concerns. The drilling resumed late on November 21. U.S. thwarted plot to kill Sikh separatist in America, issued warning to India: report U.S. authorities have thwarted a plot to kill a Sikh separatist in the United States and issued a warning to India over concerns that the Indian government was involved, the Financial Times reported on November 22, citing unnamed sources. The Financial Times said that the sources did not say if the protest to India resulted in the plot being abandoned by the plotters, or if it was foiled by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The protest to New Delhi was registered after Prime Minister Narendra Modi was welcomed on a state visit by President Joe Biden in June, the report said. The report comes two months after Canada said there were “credible” allegations linking Indian agents to the June murder of a Khalistani leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in a Vancouver suburb. India has rejected Canada’s accusations, calling the charges “motivated” and “absurd”. Apart from the diplomatic warning to India, U.S. federal prosecutors have also filed a sealed indictment against at least one suspect in a New York district court, the FT report said. The paper identified Gurpatwant Singh Pannun as the target of the foiled plot. The FT report said Pannun had declined to say whether U.S. authorities had warned him about the plot, but quoted him as saying he would “let the U.S. government respond to the issue of threats to my life on American soil from the Indian operatives”. Pannun, like Nijjar, is a proponent of a decades-long, but now a fringe demand to carve out an independent Sikh homeland from India named Khalistan. Canada worked very closely with the United States on intelligence that Indian agents had been potentially involved in Nijjar’s murder, a senior Canadian government source told Reuters in September. The Financial Times report mentioned that the U.S. shared details of the thwarted plot with a wider group of allies after Canada’s public accusation. Israel-Hamas pause in fighting to start on November 23 morning, Egyptian state media say A ceasefire agreement between the Hamas militant group and Israel has been confirmed by both parties, along with Washington and Qatar, which helped broker the deal that would bring a temporary halt to the devastating war that is now in its seventh week. The Israeli government said that under an outline of the deal, Hamas is to free over a four-day period at least 50 of the roughly 240 hostages taken in its October 7 attack on Israel, and Israel is to release some Palestinian prisoners in exchange. Egyptian state media said the truce will begin November 23 morning. Egypt helped mediate the ceasefire agreement, which would bring the first respite to war-weary Palestinians in Gaza, where more than 11,000 people have been killed, according to health authorities. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said before the Cabinet voted early on November 22 to back the agreement that the war would continue even if a deal was reached. Some 1,200 people have been killed in Israel, mostly during the initial incursion by Hamas. Important to ensure Israel-Hamas war does not take shape of regional conflict: PM Modi at G20 virtual summit Expressing concern over the prevailing insecurity and instability in West Asia, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 22 told G20 leaders that it is important to ensure that the Israel-Hamas war does not take the shape of a regional conflict and welcomed the announcement of the release of hostages. In his opening remarks at the virtual G20 Leaders’ Summit, Mr. Modi said terrorism is “unacceptable” to everyone and asserted that the death of civilians wherever it may be is condemnable. In the last few months, new challenges have emerged and the situation of insecurity and instability in West Asia is a matter of concern, he said at the virtual meeting attended by leaders like European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, among others. “Our coming together shows that we are sensitive to all issues and standing together for their solution. We believe that terrorism is unacceptable to us. Death of civilians, wherever it may be, is condemnable. We welcome the news of the release of hostages. We hope all hostages will be released soon,” Mr. Modi said. He asserted that it is imperative that humanitarian assistance reaches on time and in a continuous manner. It is important to ensure that Israel-Hamas war does not take the shape of a regional conflict, Mr. Modi said. Addressing the G20 leaders, he said, “When on November 16 last year, Indonesian President Joko Widodo handed the ceremonial gavel to me, I had said we will make G20 inclusive, ambitious, action-oriented and decisive. In one year, we have together achieved this.” All of us together have taken G20 to newer heights, he said. In Brief: Sam Altman will return as CEO of OpenAI along with former President Greg Brockman days after their shock exit. OpenAI confirmed the news in a statement on X saying it has reached an “agreement in principle” with Altman as CEO and a new board with Bret Taylor as chairman, Larry Summers and Adam D’Angelo. Altman’s ouster had started a revolt at the company with nearly all of its more than 700 employees threatening to quit in a letter that demanded the resignation of the board and reinstatement of Altman and Brockman. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. [logo] The Evening Wrap 22 November 2023 [The Hindu logo] Welcome to the Evening Wrap newsletter, your guide to the day’s biggest stories with concise analysis from The Hindu. [[Arrow]Open in browser]( [[Mail icon]More newsletters]( Army officers killed in Rajouri encounter [Two Army officers were killed and two soldiers were injured]( in an ongoing anti-militancy operation to flush out the hiding militants in a hamlet in the Pir Panjal valley’s Rajouri district on November 22. The Army said the hiding militants were also injured in the firefight. A Jammu-based Army spokesman said the security forces launched joint operations in the Gulabgarh forest of the Kalakote area on November 19 following “specific intelligence” about the presence of militants and contact with the hiding militants was established on November 22. “An intense firefight ensued. The terrorists have been injured and surrounded and operations are in progress, amidst acts of valour and sacrifice by own bravehearts in trying to prevent collateral damage to women and children in the highest traditions of the Indian Army,” the Army spokesman said. Official sources said two Army officers were killed and two soldiers were injured in the gunfight. “The injured were shifted to hospital for treatment,” they added. The condition of one of the injured is stated to be “critical”. Official sources said the security forces spotted the militants at Baji Maal hamlet of Rajouri’s Kalakote area around 10 a.m. The encounter site is dotted with trees and natural slopes. The number of militants could be up to three, they said. However, the Army has not officially confirmed the number of casualties of the soldiers. The casualties and the exact number of militants could not be ascertained immediately. The Army’s elite PARA force is also part of the operation. The anti-militancy operation is likely to prolong into the night as the militants kept firing till late November 22 evening at the positions of the security forces. Officials said multi-layer cordon has been thrown around the encounter site to ensure the militants do not flee from the spot taking advantage of the darkness. The Pir Panjal valley has witnessed a heighted militancy since 2020. This year has seen a spike in the stand-offs between the militants and the security forces. One estimate suggested 13 security personnel and 22 militants were killed in the Jammu region this year. Rescue work enters final stretch at Uttarkashi tunnel, hopes high Ambulances were on standby and doctors summoned to the disaster site as a multi-agency effort to rescue 41 men trapped in the Silkyara tunnel [appeared close to success]( on November 22 evening. At a press briefing around 4 p.m., officials at Silkyara said another six-metre section of the rescue pipe had been inserted as an auger machine drilled through debris of the collapsed stretch of the tunnel. Going by the figures given earlier in the day, this indicated that 45 metre of the escape passage had been created — out of the estimated 57 metres stretch of debris beyond which the worker are trapped for more than 10 days. In Delhi, a press release reporting the progress till 2 p.m. said the steel pipe had been inserted up to the 42-metre mark. It said 67% of the auger drilling was completed. Once the pipe, which is a little under a metre wide is inserted, workers can crawl out through it. A team of 15 doctors, including chest specialist, has been deployed at the site in anticipation of the evacuation. Twelve ambulances were on standby at the spot, and the plan was to keep a fleet of 40 ready. A helicopter was also expected to be earmarked for the operation. A makeshift eight-bed hospital has been set up in the vicinity of the under-construction tunnel on the Char Dham route. A 41-bed hospital has been readied at the Community Health Centre in Chinyalisaur in this district. All the hospitals in the district as well as AIIMS, Rishikesh have been kept on high alert. At the Silkyara briefing, Bhaskar Khulbe, a former advisor with the Prime Minister’s Office, was upbeat, saying that another six-metre section of the rescue pipe had been inserted over the past hour. “Hopefully the next two-three hours will be comfortable in terms of assembling for the next push and attaining what all of us are waiting for,” he said, referring to the continuing process of pushing in steel pipe sections. He predicted “similar good news” at a press briefing later in the evening. NHIDCL MD Mahmood Ahmed and Mr. Khulbe had told reporters earlier in the day that 39 metres had been drilled through the rubble to lay three 800-mm wide pipes. The stretch between 40 metres and 50 metres was the “most crucial,” they said. On the alternative plan, Mr. Ahmed said about eight metres of horizontal drilling had taken from the Barkot end of the tunnel – a much longer process that could take several days. Mr. Ahmed had said at least three more steel pipes of six-metre length each need to be laid through the rubble to reach the trapped workers from the Silkyara end. Drilling from the Silkyara-end through the rubble was put on hold November 17 afternoon when the American-made auger machine encountered a hard obstacle, creating vibrations in the tunnel that caused safety concerns. The drilling resumed late on November 21. U.S. thwarted plot to kill Sikh separatist in America, issued warning to India: report [U.S. authorities have thwarted a plot to kill a Sikh separatist in the United States]( and issued a warning to India over concerns that the Indian government was involved, the Financial Times reported on November 22, citing unnamed sources. The Financial Times said that the sources did not say if the protest to India resulted in the plot being abandoned by the plotters, or if it was foiled by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The protest to New Delhi was registered after Prime Minister Narendra Modi was welcomed on a state visit by President Joe Biden in June, the report said. The report comes two months after Canada said there were “credible” allegations linking Indian agents to the June murder of a Khalistani leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in a Vancouver suburb. India has rejected Canada’s accusations, calling the charges “motivated” and “absurd”. Apart from the diplomatic warning to India, U.S. federal prosecutors have also filed a sealed indictment against at least one suspect in a New York district court, the FT report said. The paper identified Gurpatwant Singh Pannun as the target of the foiled plot. The FT report said Pannun had declined to say whether U.S. authorities had warned him about the plot, but quoted him as saying he would “let the U.S. government respond to the issue of threats to my life on American soil from the Indian operatives”. Pannun, like Nijjar, is a proponent of a decades-long, but now a fringe demand to carve out an independent Sikh homeland from India named Khalistan. Canada worked very closely with the United States on intelligence that Indian agents had been potentially involved in Nijjar’s murder, a senior Canadian government source told Reuters in September. The Financial Times report mentioned that the U.S. shared details of the thwarted plot with a wider group of allies after Canada’s public accusation. Israel-Hamas pause in fighting to start on November 23 morning, Egyptian state media say A ceasefire agreement between the Hamas militant group and Israel has been confirmed by both parties, along with Washington and Qatar, which helped broker the deal that would bring a temporary halt to the devastating war that is now in its seventh week. The Israeli government said that under an outline of the deal, Hamas is to free over a four-day period at least 50 of the roughly 240 hostages taken in its October 7 attack on Israel, and Israel is to release some Palestinian prisoners in exchange. Egyptian state media said [the truce will begin November 23 morning](. Egypt helped mediate the ceasefire agreement, which would bring the first respite to war-weary Palestinians in Gaza, where more than 11,000 people have been killed, according to health authorities. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said before the Cabinet voted early on November 22 to back the agreement that the war would continue even if a deal was reached. Some 1,200 people have been killed in Israel, mostly during the initial incursion by Hamas. Important to ensure Israel-Hamas war does not take shape of regional conflict: PM Modi at G20 virtual summit Expressing concern over the prevailing insecurity and instability in West Asia, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 22 told G20 leaders that [it is important to ensure that the Israel-Hamas war does not take the shape of a regional conflict]( and welcomed the announcement of the release of hostages. In his opening remarks at the virtual G20 Leaders’ Summit, Mr. Modi said terrorism is “unacceptable” to everyone and asserted that the death of civilians wherever it may be is condemnable. In the last few months, new challenges have emerged and the situation of insecurity and instability in West Asia is a matter of concern, he said at the virtual meeting attended by leaders like European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, among others. “Our coming together shows that we are sensitive to all issues and standing together for their solution. We believe that terrorism is unacceptable to us. Death of civilians, wherever it may be, is condemnable. We welcome the news of the release of hostages. We hope all hostages will be released soon,” Mr. Modi said. He asserted that it is imperative that humanitarian assistance reaches on time and in a continuous manner. It is important to ensure that Israel-Hamas war does not take the shape of a regional conflict, Mr. Modi said. Addressing the G20 leaders, he said, “When on November 16 last year, Indonesian President Joko Widodo handed the ceremonial gavel to me, I had said we will make G20 inclusive, ambitious, action-oriented and decisive. In one year, we have together achieved this.” All of us together have taken G20 to newer heights, he said. In Brief: [Sam Altman will return as CEO of OpenAI]( along with former President Greg Brockman days after their shock exit. OpenAI confirmed the news in a statement on X saying it has reached an “agreement in principle” with Altman as CEO and a new board with Bret Taylor as chairman, Larry Summers and Adam D’Angelo. Altman’s ouster had started a revolt at the company with nearly all of its more than 700 employees threatening to quit in a letter that demanded the resignation of the board and reinstatement of Altman and Brockman. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. 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