Jammu: Seven Army jawans were injured, three of them seriously, when Hizbul Mujahideen militants triggered an improvised explosive device (IED) in Doda district, while another was detected in Kathua in Jammu and Kashmir on March 8, official sources said.

An Army patrol party was on its way for an operation against militants in Khari- Banihal area of Doda district on March 8 evening, when ultras belonging to pro- Pakistan militant outfit Hizbul Mujahideen set off an IED with remote control, the sources said.

Seven Army jawans were injured and three of them were in critical condition, the sources said adding, the militants escaped after the blast.

An operation was launched by troops in the Khari forests in Banihal to track down the militants responsible for the attack, the sources said.

Police also recovered an IED weighing one and half kgs kept in plastic tiffin box from bushes at Chapper Morh in Hiranagar border belt near international border in Kathua district on March 8 afternoon, the sources said.

The IED was later defused by the police bomb disposal squad, the sources said.

PTI