Congress Criticizes Centre After Deadly Encounter in Jammu and Kashmir

The Congress has criticized the Centre following the death of four soldiers in a recent encounter in Jammu and Kashmir's Doda district. Rahul Gandhi demanded accountability for repeated security lapses, while other senior Congress leaders expressed condolences and called for a united stand against terrorism.

The Congress on Tuesday hit out at the Centre after four soldiers were killed in an encounter in Jammu and Kashmir's Doda, with Rahul Gandhi asserting that the government should take full responsibility for the repeated security lapses and take strict action against the culprits.

Four army personnel, including an officer, died after being injured in a gunfight with heavily armed terrorists in Doda district, officials said on Tuesday. The latest incident comes a week after a terrorist ambush on an Army patrol in the remote Machedi forest belt in Kathua district claimed the lives of five soldiers and injured as many.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said he was deeply distressed by the martyrdom of the four brave soldiers, including an officer. ''Our heart goes out to the families of our bravehearts, who made the supreme sacrifice in the service of Bharat Mata. Our thoughts and prayers are with the injured, and we wish him a speedy and complete recovery,'' he said. No words of strong and unequivocal condemnation will suffice for these acts of violence being perpetrated by cowardly terrorists, he said.