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 infinite encounter in Jammu and Kashmir’s Anantnag district are battling terrorists who haven’t any scarcity of arms, ammunition or meals, and now have the lay of the land.
The personnel are additionally going through 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 instructed 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 staff of Military and police personnel then acquired info 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 should take to get to the highest of the hill is sort 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 started 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 method 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 – inconceivable and so they may very well be taken to a hospital solely within the morning, the sources mentioned.
Standoff
It has been almost 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 world due to its difficult geography, the sources mentioned.
‘No Bizarre Terrorists’
In accordance with the sources, the variety of terrorists is more likely to be greater than the two-three which might be being cited. Amongst them is Uzair Khan, who joined Lashkar-e-Taiba final yr. They mentioned he has full details about the world, which the terrorists are benefiting from.
“Bizarre terrorists can’t stretch an encounter for thus lengthy. They’re very well-trained and have good weapons. It is usually doable that an informer could have double-crossed the forces or somebody could have leaked their actions. No matter it’s, ending this operation has turn out to be a giant problem,” mentioned a supply.
‘Ambush Speculation’
One soldier continues to be lacking and no less than two personnel have been injured. In a put up on X, previously Twitter, Further Director Basic 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 might 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 might be neutralised,” he mentioned.
