New Delhi: With Jammu seeing a surge in the deployment of security forces following back-to-back setbacks, terrorists holed up there are attempting to cross the Pir Panjal range into the Kashmir zone, ThePrint has learnt.
The Army has already sent nearly division-level additional troops to the Jammu region and are in the process of inducting more, including personnel from the Assam Rifles.
These additional patrols have made the security grid in Jammu region tighter than before, sources said.
It is learnt, the ongoing operation in the Ahlan Gagarmandu forest area of the Anantnag district in Kashmir is a result of security forces being able to track one such group from Doda which was trying to cross over.
In the ongoing operation, two commandos belonging to the 1 Para Special Forces have been killed in action while two terrorists have also been gunned down.
One civilian, whose background is still being verified and who is suspected to have been working as a guide to the terrorists, has also been killed while another civilian has been injured.
Sources in the know said the group consisted of four to five well-trained Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) terrorists. Two were shot dead while one was injured, and an extensive search operation is on to ferret out the rest.
The encounter, which took place Saturday, was hampered by heavy rains the next day, but has since picked up. Sources said security forces under the Srinagar-based 15 Corps were tracking this group along with the Kashmir Police.
Given that 1 Para specialise in tactical operations, they were roped in as well besides regular troops.
When the special forces spotted the group for the first time Saturday, they were at a distance of about 150-200 metres. A decision was made to encircle them rather than immediately open fire, which would have alerted the terrorists.
Multiple ambushes were then set up.
“As bad luck would have it, the terrorists managed to spot one of the ambushes from afar and opened fire, which resulted in the injuries and subsequent death of two soldiers,” a source said.
Sources said an intense firefight ensued, which also saw terrorists splitting up and changing locations. In one of the firefights, two terrorists were shot dead and one is suspected to have been injured.
Sources said the terrorists had come in from Doda.
ThePrint had first reported that Pakistan-based JeM had pushed in nearly 40 terrorists into Jammu side over the past one year.
The Pir Panjal range is a cluster of lower mountains in the Western Himalayas, which extends from the Nilam River in western Pakistan-occupied Kashmir through southwestern Jammu and Kashmir, to the Upper Beas River in northwestern Himachal Pradesh. In Jammu, it stretches from Poonch in the west to Doda in the east.
Once a terrorist enters Rajouri, he can easily trek into Kashmir and reach Kulgam and then Kokernag. In the same manner, Shopian and Uri are also accessible from Poonch.
(Edited by Tikli Basu)
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