J&K: Combing op continues in Poonch, no sign of militants yet

The troops intensified their combing operation in the forests Tuesday evening with Para Commandos also joining them. To avoid collateral damage, the Army had appealed to people living in the vicinity of the forests to stay indoors.

By: Express News Service
Jammu | October 21, 2021 02:09 AM IST

1 min read

Army personnel at the encounter site in Mendhar, Poonch, on Sunday. (PTI)

Security forces are yet to trace the militants suspected to be hiding in the Nar forests in Jammu and Kashmir’s border district of Poonch where they had killed four Army men including a Junior Commissioned Officer on October 14. The troops intensified their combing operation in the forests Tuesday evening with Para Commandos also joining them. To avoid collateral damage, the Army had appealed to people living in the vicinity of the forests to stay indoors.

Sources said contact with militants has not been re-established so far. Whatever firing is taking place is “speculative fire” from the army side while moving forward in the dense forests, one of them said. The last contact between militants and security forces took place on Saturday morning for nearly 15 minutes. Thereafter, there has been no fire from militants’ side. The police suspect the militants were in the same group that had, October 11, killed five soldiers including a JCO in the Chamrel forests.