Srinagar: The security operation in Kulgam district of south Kashmir entered the third day on Sunday as security forces tightened the noose around the ultras engaged in the gun battle with them.
“The encounter has entered third day as intermittent exchange of firing has been going on since Sunday morning,” an official said.
He said the security forces were using all means, including drones, to track down the terrorists.
Two terrorists have been killed in the encounter which began on Friday after security forces launched a cordon and search operation in a forest area at Akhal in the south Kashmir district, following specific intelligence inputs about the presence of terrorists there.
After an initial exchange of fire between the two sides on Friday evening, the operation was halted for the night, the officials said.
The cordon was strengthened, and additional reinforcements were rushed to the area.
Firing resumed on Saturday morning, during which two terrorists were killed, the officials said.
The identity and group affiliation of the slain terrorists are being ascertained, they added, noting that the operation is still underway.
Last week also saw Operation Mahadev carried out on Monday, in which three Pakistani terrorists were killed in the Dachigam forest area near Srinagar. The terrorists involved were said to be linked to The Resistance Front (TRF), a proxy of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT)—a terrorist organisation that had claimed responsibility for the devastating Pahalgam attack of April 22, which left 26 people dead.
As described in detail later on at the Monsoon session of the Parliament, the Dachigam operation began after a July 11 intercept of a suspicious communication in the Harwan area. After 17 days of intensive search and surveillance, a joint team of the 24 Rashtriya Rifles and 4 Para Commandos located and neutralised the terrorists at around 11:30 AM on Monday.
It was also clarified in the session that the three terrorists were directly involved in the Pahalgam tragedy, and that one of them (Suleiman alias Faizal Jat) had been the mastermind of the April 22 terror attack.
Anti-militancy operation in Kulgam enters third day
