As the operation against militants in the Gadole forests in Kokernag entered its fourth day, Lt. Gen Upendra Dwivedi, the Army Commander for the Northern Command, conducted a review of the ongoing operation in Anantnag on Saturday.
During the review, he was briefed by the commanders on the “high-intensity operation, which involves the use of advanced technology for surveillance and firepower delivery, along with precision strikes by the Army’’.
The operation has turned out to be one of the longest in the Valley in over a decade. The Army has established a multi-layer cordon around the forest to intensify the search for militants responsible for the killing of two army officers, Colonel Manpreet Singh and Major Asheesh Danchok of 19 RR, as well as Deputy Superintendent (DSP) of J&K Police Himanyun Muzamil Bhat on August 13 during an anti-militancy operation.
To flush out the militants, the Army deployed under-barrel grenade launchers (UBGLs), rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs), and an Israeli Heron unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). The UAV detected movement in Gadole after a cave-like hideout was bombed, and the Army subsequently used UBGLs and RPGs to target the suspected hideout. The J&K Police has said the militants involved in the killing of the three officers and a soldier are trapped in the forest.
In response to statements by some retired police and army officers suggesting that the officers may have been targeted in an ambush, Assistant Director General of Police for Kashmir Vijay Kumar stated that the operation was based on specific intelligence and urged against the ambush hypothesis. He emphasised that the operation was ongoing and that the trapped militants would be neutralised.
The officers, Singh, Dhanchok, and Bhat, sustained fatal injuries when militants fired at them from advantageous positions while they were closing in on the militants in the Gadole forest. Due to continued militant fire, the injured officers and some soldiers could not be promptly rescued. They were later airlifted to the hospital, but their severe injuries and blood loss proved fatal.
Intermittent firing continued throughout Friday in the Gadole forests, where the J&K Police stated that two to three militants, including a local militant named Uzair Khan, were hiding. Heavy firepower, quadcopters, and UAVs were deployed to locate the militants, and helicopters conducted strafing runs in the area.
Civilians living near the operation area were relocated to safer locations. As of now, there has been no confirmation regarding the death of any militants. The rugged terrain and dense vegetation in Gadole provide natural cover for militants and pose challenges for security forces. To prevent militants from escaping in the dark, high-beam lights were installed, and a multi-layer cordon was established.
Two soldiers who were injured on the third day of the operation received medical treatment in the hospital, and the body of a missing injured soldier was recovered.
The Kokernag encounter is one of the longest in south Kashmir since August 5 of the current year when three soldiers from the army's 34 Rashtriya Rifles (RR) were killed at Halan Manzgam forest in Kulgam district. This marks the second time a colonel has been killed since the incident on March 30, 2020, when five security personnel, including a Colonel, a Major, and a sub-inspector, were killed during an 18-hour-long encounter in north Kashmir's Handwara.
