The forces first received intelligence about terrorists hiding within the space on Tuesday evening.

New Delhi:

Caught between forests and a hill on one facet 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 don’t have any scarcity of arms, ammunition or meals, and still 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 prime of the hill, and the one path to it’s a slender one with a sheer drop on one facet, extremely positioned sources within the safety forces have informed NDTV. It was this path and the visibility afforded by the cave that value the forces the lives of Colonel Manpreet Singh, Major Aashish Dhonchak and Deputy Superintendent of Police Himayun Bhat. 

The Beginning 

The sources stated that the forces first received 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 workforce of Army and police personnel then acquired info that the terrorists had been on prime of a hill.

Attack Starts

In the early hours of Wednesday, the forces determined to assault the terrorists. “The path the forces have to take to get to the top of the hill is quite challenging. It is very narrow and there are mountains and a dense forest on one side and deep ditch on the other. The personnel began the ascent in the night, and the pitch darkness made it worse,” stated a supply. 

As the forces neared the cave, the terrorists received a transparent view of them and commenced firing indiscriminately.  Caught on the slender path, with no cowl and the very actual hazard of falling, the personnel had nowhere to go, and no technique to retaliate. 

Colonel Singh, who was the commanding officer of the 19 Rashtriya Rifles, firm commander Major 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 – unimaginable they usually might be taken to a hospital solely within the morning, the sources stated. 

Standoff

It’s 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 Army has nonetheless not been in a position to obtain domination of the realm due to its difficult geography, the sources stated. 

‘No Ordinary Terrorists’

According to the sources, the variety of terrorists is more likely to be greater than the two-three which are being cited.  Among them is Uzair Khan, who joined Lashkar-e-Taiba final 12 months. They stated he has full details about the realm, which the terrorists are benefiting from. 

“Ordinary terrorists cannot stretch an encounter for so long. They are very well trained and have good weapons. It is also possible that an informer may have double-crossed the forces or someone may have leaked their movements of the security forces. Whatever it is, ending this operation has become a big challenge,” stated a supply. 

‘Ambush Hypothesis’

One soldier remains to be lacking and not less than two personnel have been injured. In a put up on X, previously Twitter, Additional Director General of Police (Kashmir) Vijay Kumar suggested retired police and Army officers to keep away from going with the “ambush hypothesis”.

#KokernagEncounterUpdate: Rtd Police/Army officers ought to keep away from “ Ambush Hypothesis”. It is a selected 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/Army officers should avoid ‘ambush hypothesis’. It is a specific input-based ops. Ops is in progress and all 2-3 trapped terrorists will be neutralised,” he stated.