J&K: Anantnag operation enters 4th day; gunfight near LoC in north Kashmir, 2 ultras killed

Army personnel stand guard amid an encounter between the security forces and militants at Kokernag, in Anantnag on Friday. ANI Photo

The operation to flush out militants from the dense forest area in southern Anantnag district in Jammu and Kashmir has entered into its fourth day as drones and helicopters were pressed into service to track and kill the militants who killed three security forces officers.

Security forces deployed drones and helicopters to surveil the hilly terrain and figure out the locations of the militants in the forests at Gadole in the Kokernag area of the south Kashmir district, PTI reported quoting officials.

As the assault was resumed on Saturday morning, the fourth day of the gunfight, the security forces fired several mortar shells towards the forest, they said. Drone footage showed a militant running for cover after a cave-like hideout was hit by shells fired by security forces on Friday.

Additional Director General of Police (Kashmir) Vijay Kumar late Friday night said the operation was launched on the basis of specific input and claimed "two to three trapped terrorists will be neutralised."

Major Ashish Dhonchak, 19 Rashtriya Rifles Commanding Officer Col Manpreet Singh, Deputy Superintendent of Jammu and Kashmir Police Humayun Bhat, and a soldier were killed in the encounter with the militants on Wednesday.

Also read: Ganesh Chaturthi transforms the cityscape: A marvel of infrastructure management

Meanwhile, another militant was killed in an encounter with security forces in the Uri town of Jammu and Kashmir's Baramulla district, police said on Saturday.

In a social media post on X, formerly Twitter, Kashmir Zone Police wrote, "1 more terrorist killed (Total 02). Search operation in progress. Further details shall follow".

The encounter broke out in the Hathlanga forward area of Uri on Saturday morning.

Earlier, police said that one militant was killed in the encounter and search was going on.

In the meanwhile, Border Security Force Special Director General (SDG) Y B Khurania visited the International Border in Jammu and Kashmir's Samba sector and reviewed the security measures taken by the force, a spokesperson said on Saturday.

Khurania arrived here on a three-day visit to review the security situation along the Jammu frontier on Friday.

BSF Inspector General (IG) D K Boora gave a detailed presentation to the SDG covering all critical aspects of border security and domination along the borderline in Jammu, the BSF spokesperson said.

Boora described the general security scenario in the area of operation, including the deployment pattern of BSF battalions and their robust domination aspects along the International Border (IB), he said.

Khurania visited the Samba sector where he was briefed about the recent threats being faced by the BSF in the area, ranging from tunnelling and cross-border smuggling. A special emphasis was given to the threats posed by drones coming from across the border, he said.

The SDG was shown various border domination aspects on the ground.

Khurania addressed the troops and praised them for their effective border duties round the clock, the spokesperson said. (Agencies)