The forces first bought intelligence about terrorists hiding within the space on Tuesday evening.
New Delhi:
Caught between forests and a hill on one aspect and a deep ditch on the opposite, the safety forces personnel locked in a seemingly limitless encounter in Jammu and Kashmir’s Anantnag district are battling terrorists who haven’t any scarcity of arms, ammunition or meals, and still have the lay of the land.
The personnel are additionally dealing with an uphill battle, actually, because the terrorists are holed up in a cave on high of the hill, and the one path to it’s a slim one with a sheer drop on one aspect, extremely positioned sources within the safety forces have informed NDTV. It was this path and the visibility afforded by the cave that price the forces the lives of Colonel Manpreet Singh, Main Aashish Dhonchak and Deputy Superintendent of Police Himayun Bhat.
The Starting
The sources mentioned that the forces first bought intelligence about terrorists hiding within the Gadul forests of Kokernag on Tuesday evening. A search operation was launched, however the terrorists couldn’t be discovered. The joint group of Military and police personnel then acquired data that the terrorists had been on high of a hill.
Assault Begins
Within the early hours of Wednesday, the forces determined to assault the terrorists. “The trail the forces must take to get to the highest of the hill is kind of difficult. It is extremely slim and there are mountains and a dense forest on one aspect and a deep ditch on the opposite. The personnel started the ascent within the evening, and the pitch darkness made it worse,” mentioned a supply.
Because the forces neared the cave, the terrorists bought a transparent view of them and commenced firing indiscriminately. Caught on the slim path, with no cowl and the very actual hazard of falling, the personnel had nowhere to go, and no approach to retaliate.
Colonel Singh, who was the commanding officer of the 19 Rashtriya Rifles, firm commander Main Dhonchak – who had been each recipients of the celebrated Sena Medal (gallantry) – and Deputy SP Bhat had been injured within the firing.
The hail of bullets and the difficult path made their extraction – each by different personnel and a helicopter – not possible they usually might be taken to a hospital solely within the morning, the sources mentioned.
Standoff
It has been practically 72 hours for the reason that encounter started and the forces have the hill surrounded. Explosives are being dropped utilizing the Heron drones bought from Israel, rocket launchers are getting used and the personnel are firing, however the Military has nonetheless not been capable of obtain domination of the realm due to its difficult geography, the sources mentioned.
‘No Bizarre Terrorists’
Based on the sources, the variety of terrorists is prone to be greater than the two-three which can be being cited. Amongst them is Uzair Khan, who joined Lashkar-e-Taiba final yr. They mentioned he has full details about the realm, which the terrorists are benefiting from.
“Bizarre terrorists can not stretch an encounter for thus lengthy. They’re very well-trained and have good weapons. It is usually attainable that an informer might have double-crossed the forces or somebody might have leaked their actions. No matter it’s, ending this operation has develop into an enormous problem,” mentioned a supply.
‘Ambush Speculation’
One soldier remains to be lacking and no less than two personnel have been injured. In a publish on X, previously Twitter, Further Director Normal of Police (Kashmir) Vijay Kumar suggested retired police and Military officers to keep away from going with the “ambush speculation”.
#KokernagEncounterUpdate: Rtd Police/Military officers ought to keep away from “ Ambush Speculation”. It’s a particular enter primarily based ops. Ops is in progress and all 2-3 trapped terrorists will likely be neutralised: ADGP Kashmir
— Kashmir Zone Police (@KashmirPolice) September 15, 2023
“Retired police/Military officers ought to keep away from ‘ambush speculation’. It’s a particular input-based ops. Ops is in progress and all 2-3 trapped terrorists will likely be neutralised,” he mentioned.
