J&K: Anantnag Anti-Terror Operation Persists Into Sixth Day

Monday was the sixth day of an operation to find and kill terrorists hiding in the Gadole forest area of Jammu and Kashmir’s Anantnag district. Security forces are using drones to find the terrorists’ hiding places so they can attack them. Manoj Sinha, who is the Lieutenant Governor of the Union Territory, has vowed to get revenge for the deaths of the three cops.

Officials here say that drone video showed a burned body near one of the hideouts that were destroyed during the five-day operation against terrorism. They said that security forces would have to clean up the area before they could give any more details about it.

Officials say that security forces are using drones and helicopters to keep an eye on a dense forest area with several cave-like hiding places where they think terrorists have been holed up since Wednesday after killing two Army officers and a deputy superintendent of police in the first exchange of fire.

Sunday, the security cordon was stretched to the nearby Posh Kreeri area as a precaution to make sure terrorists don’t sneak into civilian areas.

At an event here on Sunday night, the Lieutenant Governor said that every drop of the heroes’ blood will be avenged and that the people who help terrorists will have to pay a high price. “We trust our men completely… Sinha said that the whole country stands with the soldiers.

He said that the attack on security forces in Anantnag happened because terrorists were angry that the G20 Summit went well and that people who made money off of the conflict in Jammu and Kashmir were being punished.

Sinha said that it was time to stop terrorism and the way things are in Jammu and Kashmir, which has made life hard for the average person.

Top security officials in Kashmir, such as the director general of police and the GOC of the Army’s 15 Corps, have been keeping an eye on the operation. On Saturday, the leader of the Northern Army went to the site of the shootout to see how things were going.

The cops think that there are between two and three terrorists in the forest area.

Vijay Kumar, the Additional Director General of Police for Kashmir, said late Friday night that the operation was started because of specific information and that “two to three terrorists who are trapped” will be killed.

On Wednesday, attackers killed Colonel Manpreet Singh, the Commanding Officer of the 19 Rashtriya Rifles, Major Ashish Dhonchak, the Deputy Superintendent of the Jammu and Kashmir Police, Humayun Bhat, and a soldier.