Srinagar: Three terrorists were killed, and a soldier injured in the ongoing Operation Akhal, in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kulgam district on Sunday, even as this counter-terror exercise, one of the biggest in recent times, entered its third day.
On Saturday, three terrorists were killed in the operation. All three were identified as members of the banned The Resistance Force (TRF), an off-shoot of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) that took responsibility for the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack.
The operation began in the Akhal forest area of south Kashmir’s Kulgam district on Friday after security forces launched a cordon and search operation, following intelligence inputs about the presence of terrorists in the area.
The encounter began after the terrorists opened fire on a joint team of the Jammu and Kashmir Police, Army and the CRPF from a densely-forested area. Operation Akhal is still underway, officials said.
After an initial exchange of fire, the operation was halted on Friday night. It resumed on Saturday and the security forces succeeded in eliminating three terrorists. Three more were neutralised on Sunday.
The DGP of Jammu and Kashmir and the 15 Corps Commander is monitoring the operations closely. According to sources, high-tech surveillance equipment and Special Forces have also joined in the operations. The remaining terrorists have reportedly been cornered.
The security forces launched a series of operations, starting July 28. The first was Operation Mahadev in the Dachigam forests near Srinagar. The three LeT terrorists directly involved in the Pahalgam massacre were neutralised in this operation. Operation Shiv Shakti was launched a day later, in which two more terrorists were eliminated by the Army.
Officials say that nearly 20 high-profile terrorists have been neutralised after the Pahalgam attack that claimed the lives of 26 civilians.