Srinagar, Sep 9 : The anti-militancy operation launched yesterday in the Guddar forest area of south Kashmir’s Kulgam district entered its second day today, with security forces conducting massive combing operations to track down at least one militant believed to be part of the group.
Two Army personnel, including a Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO), were killed yesterday in the encounter that also left two terrorists dead.
The slain soldiers were identified as Subedar Perbhat Gaur and Lance Naik Narender Sindhu.
While authorities have not confirmed the identities of the militants, sources said one of them was a local, Amir Ahmed Dar of Daramdora, Shopian, while the other is believed to be a Pakistani national affiliated with Lashkar-e-Taiba.
A joint cordon-and-search operation was launched in the early hours yesterday by the Army, CRPF and J&K Police in the Guddar following specific intelligence input and it later turned into a gunbattle.
A senior security officer today said searches are continuing in the forest area to flush out the remaining militant.
“There was no exchange of fire during the night, but combing operations are underway to nab the hiding terrorist,” the officer said.
This was the second encounter in Kulgam within a month. Earlier, security forces had battled militants in Akhal forests for 12 days from August 1, in one of the longest anti-militancy operations in recent years. That gunfight ended with the killing of a local LeT militant, while two soldiers also lost their lives.
So far this year, six Army personnel have been killed in gunfights across Kashmir.