Jammu and Kashmir: Suspicious movement noted in Anantnag forest, anti-terror operation on

Srinagar: The anti-terror operation in Jammu and Kashmir's Anantnag district entered the fourth day as search teams noticed some suspicious movement in the Ahlan Gagarmandu forest early Tuesday and opened "probing fire", officials said.

However, there was no further firing from either side as the search operations continued, they added.

Additional security personnel were pressed into combing operations to flush out the terrorists hiding in the forest area, the officials said.

V K Birdi, Inspector General of Police, Kashmir Zone, told reporters here that the anti-terror operation was still going on in the region.

Three persons, including two soldiers, were killed in a fire exchange with terrorists Anantnag on August 10, following which a massive manhunt has been launched in the Ahlan Gagarmandu forest area in the Kokernag belt to eliminate them.

The firefight started on Saturday evening during a cordon and search operation that was initiated by the security forces based on intelligence reports indicating the presence of terrorists in the remote forest.

According to officials, a group of terrorists -- believed to be three to four in number -- opened fire at the joint search parties comprising Army personnel, including para commandos, and local police.

In the ensuing gun battle, six Army personnel and two civilians were hurt, officials said, adding the injured were rushed to a nearby hospital where two soldiers -- Havildar Dipak Kumar Yadav and Lance Naik Praveen Sharma -- succumbed shortly after arrival.

This encounter is a grim reminder of a similar operation in Kokernag last September, during which four security personnel, including Colonel Manpreet Singh, Major Ashish and Deputy SP Humayun Bhat were killed in the week-long engagement with terrorists.

Two terrorists, including a senior commander of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), were also neutralised during that operation.

Security forces have ramped up their efforts in the woods of Kokernag after an encounter in Doda district on July 15 that resulted in the deaths of four soldiers, including a captain.

It is believed that the terrorists involved in the recent Anantnag incident may have crossed over from Kishtwar district after escaping the confrontation in Doda.

Giving details of the current operation, a Srinagar-based defence spokesperson said it was confirmed on August 5 through human and electronic means that terrorists responsible for atrocities in the Doda region in July have sneaked across the Kishtwar range into the Kapran-Garol area in south Kashmir.