Anantnag encounter: Injured civilian succumbs, security forces expand search ops

The security forces’ operation against the militants continued on Sunday, with police saying searches were underway in the upper reaches of Kokernag. They said any concrete information about the militants would only be given after the operation comes to an end.

“The search operation was going on when the security forces saw movement of one foreign terrorist. There was exchange of fire, and during this operation, two security force personnel were critically injured and later attained martyrdom. One more soldier was injured, and he is stable,” said Virdhi Kumar Birdi, Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kashmir.

“There were some other people who came under fire during the exchange. A civilian who was critically injured has succumbed to his injuries. The other civilian (who was also injured) is undergoing treatment and is relatively stable,” he said.

The search operations by the J&K Police and the Army, which were intensified on Sunday, were taking place in the dense Ahlan forests that connect the Kashmir Valley to Jammu division.

The IGP said the militants were likely “a group of three-four men. Once the operation concludes, we can share some concrete information”.

Police said they are also investigating the antecedents of the civilians killed and injured in Saturday’s exchange of fire. “Their presence in the vicinity of the terrorists is a matter to be investigated. We are also investigating their roles and involvement, if there is any,” Birdi said.

The militants managed to escape after the gunfight on Saturday and the Army has sent reinforcements on Sunday to the area in an effort to find them.