The search operation launched by troops in the forest area of Kokernag in Anantnag district entered the third day on Monday as security forces widened the search area to track down the group of terrorists involved in the recent encounter in which two soldiers and a civilian were killed.
A security official said the search operation to track down the terrorists continued for the third day despite the challenging topography and inclement weather.
The search operation was launched after a gunfight between militants and security forces based in the remote Ahlan Gagarmandu forest area in Kokernag in Anantnag left two soldiers and a civilian dead.
According to officials, a group of three to four terrorists are hiding in the forest area and it is being suspected that they are the same group which carried out an attack on the army in Doda district in which four soldiers were killed.
There has been no fresh contact with the terrorists since Saturday evening.
“The searches continued on the third day today and forces were moving cautiously in the vast forest area,” officials said.
They said the searches have been extended in the Doda-Bhaderwah in Jammu region as the forest area in Anantnag where the gun battle took place is close to that area.
It is the second encounter in Kokernag forest area in the last one year.
In September last year, four security personnel, including Colonel Manpreet Singh, Major Ashish and Deputy SP Humayun Bhat were killed in the week-long gunfight with terrorists. A top local Lashkar commander was also killed during the operation.