Srinagar: Army's Northern Command chief Lieutenant General Upendra Dwivedi on Saturday visited Gadole, a forested area in the Kokernag area of Jammu and Kashmir 's southern Anantnag district, where a massive counterinsurgency operation is underway for the past four days to flush out a group of heavily armed militants responsible for the killing of two Army officers, a soldier and a deputy superintendent of police earlier this week.
Meanwhile, the security forces on Saturday gunned down three militants in a clash soon after they had sneaked into the Uri area of J&K from PoJK after breaching the Line of Control (LoC), the officials said.
Defence sources here said that Lt. Gen. Dwivedi reviewed the operational situation near the site of the gunfight at Gadole. He was briefed by the ground commanders on the high-intensity operations, in which hi-tech equipment is being used for surveillance and delivery of firepower, along with the high impact of precision fire being used by the forces, they said.
The Northern Command said in a post on X, “#LtGenUpendraDwivedi #ArmyCdr, Northern Command reviewed the operational situation on the ongoing operations at #Kokernag forest area in #Anantnag."
On Thursday, a day after militants had killed Colonel Manpreet Singh, Commanding Officer of the Army’s 19 Rashtriya Rifles (12 Sikh Light Infantry) and Major Ashish Kumar and deputy superintendent of the J&K police Humayun Bhat and injured a couple of more security personnel in a clash at Gadole, the special forces of the Army’s Mountain Division trained for high-altitude warfare and their airborne counterparts from its Parachute Regiment joined other security forces already on ground to launch a fierce assault against them. The militants believed to be the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) cadres, are holed up in the forested area and have frequently changed locations even as the officials had on Thursday claimed that “contact” with them has been reestablished.
The Army and J&K police officials had said here that two LeT militants including Uzair Khan have been “encircled” and that efforts are underway to “eliminate” them.
The sources said that the security forces have used drones and helicopters besides the latest weaponry and other equipment to track down the militants. Apart from the Army, the J&K police’s counterinsurgency Special Operations Group (SOG) and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) are conducting the operation and “making an all-out effort to deny any opportunity to the terrorists to escape from the area,” the sources had said.
Meanwhile, the Army on Saturday said that it foiled an infiltration bid along the LoC in J&K's Baramulla district. "There have been intelligence inputs from multiple intelligence agencies regarding terrorist groups planning to infiltrate from across the LoC. On the basis of inputs, the anti-infiltration and surveillance grid was tightened in the area and ambushes were sighted, " the Army said in a statement here.
It said, "The alert troops in the Uri sector noticed a group of terrorists attempting to cross the LoC at Hathlanga Nala during the early hours of the day (Saturday). Contact was established in which one terrorist was neutralized in a two hour long gunfight. While searching for the other two terrorists, one of the terrorists opened up fire from hiding, thus establishing contact. The second terrorist's body was recovered by 1230 hours." The Army added, "The third terrorist was also engaged who was supported by fire from Pakistan Army post at the LoC. He fell down towards the enemy side of the LoC. While the operation was under progress the quad copter was also flown to ascertain whereabouts of the third terrorist. However, Pakistan Army post in the near vicinity fired on the quad copter establishing the support of Pakistan Army in abetting terrorism and assisting terrorists to infiltrate across LoC".
The statement further said that the joint operation by the Indian Army and J&K police lasted for eight hours, in which three terrorists were killed. Two AK series rifles, one pistol, seven hand grenades, one IED, cash of Rs 46,000 (Indian currency) and Rs 6000 (Pak currency) and other war-like stores were recovered, the Army said.
The statement alleged, "This operation has once again highlighted the nefarious design of Pakistan Army in supporting terrorism and the intent to disturb normalcy and prevailing peace in Kashmir."
