Security forces treading cautiously as Kulgam encounter enters 4th day

Security forces are treading watchfully in the forests of Akhal in south Kashmir’s Kulgam where the gunfight on Monday entered the fourth day with a group of terrorists that appears to be well entrenched in the area.

Sporadic firing and explosions were being heard since morning from the encounter spot as the Army, CRPF and J&K Police have intensified the operation against the terrorists.

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Special Forces of the Indian Army, helicopters, drones and technical equipment have been deployed to enable the forces strike at the exact location where the terrorists were hiding. They were firing at the security forces from two separate directions, reports said.

Reports said that grenades were dropped this morning through drones to eliminate the terrorists who appear to be well versed with jungle warfare.

The encounter started on Friday after the security forces launched a joint operation against the hiding terrorists after an intelligence tip-off.

At least five heavily armed terrorists, three of them Pakistanis, are believed trapped in the cordon. Two of them, who were locals, have been eliminated and an equal number of soldiers are reported to have been injured in the gunfight.

The Indian Army last night kept the terrorists engaged in intense gunfights to prevent them from escaping in the dark.

Security forces were anticipating that the terrorists might soon run out of the ammunition they were carrying.

This is one of the long anti-terrorist operations and it is believed that the encounter has stretched for four days as the terrorists had built their hideout in the thick forest area and have stored large quantities of ammunition.

Further details of the encounter are awaited.