Two militants killed in Army’s Op Silver Strike

This morning, men in Olive Green returned after 36 hours to the Surankote camp, having gunned down two militants in Dara Sangla forests at the foothills of Hill Kaka. A year after the success of Operation Sarpvinash in the Hill Kaka heights of Poonch, men from the special forces and Romeo troops are back in action. This time it is Operation Silver Strike, to flush out militants from Dara Sangla.

Launched after intelligence inputs about militant activity in the area were received, six militants have been killed so far, Brigade Commander, Romeo Force, Brig M.K. Kushwaha said. They will continue till the last militant is eliminated, he adds.

Brig Kushwaha says that on May 9, special forces assisted by Romeo troops entered the forests and gunned down two terrorists — Yassa Bhai and Arbhai of Jamiat-ul-Mujahideen (JeM) and Hizb-e-Islami (HeI), respectively.

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‘‘The militants’ morale is low. They step into the villages only to fetch food,’’ he said.

The Army claimed to have recovered the photocopy of a licence issued by the Jammu and Kashmir Regional Transport Office, from the two militants who were gunned down.

Brigadier Kushwaha believes the militants wanted to make fake licences to checkmate security agencies operating in the area.