The gunfight between terrorists and security forces continued for the third consecutive day in the Akhal forest area of Kulgam in south Kashmir.
The encounter, which began on Friday evening in the Akhal Khulsan forest, has so far resulted in the deaths of two terrorists — one suspected to be a local — while a soldier has been injured in the ongoing exchange of fire, sources said.
The operation, led by joint teams of the Army, CRPF, and police continues amid heavy gunfire as security forces intensify their efforts to track down the remaining militants entrenched in the rugged terrain.
“Intense firefight continued through the night in the vast forest area and the operation is going on,” said a security officer.
“We are ensuring a tight cordon so that no holed up terrorist manages to flee. There is a possibility that the operation may prolong,” he said.
Senior security officials are camping in Kulgam and monitoring the operation.
The GoC 15 Corps today visited the area to supervise the operation and take feedback about the operation from the security officials.
The security officials suspect presence of a group of 5-7 terrorists in the forest area
This is the second major encounter in Kashmir in a week.
On July 28 security forces killed three Pakistani Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists in an encounter in the Harwan-Dachigam forest area on the outskirts of Srinagar. The three militants were responsible for the April 22 attack in Pahalgam in which 25 tourists and a local pony rider were killed.