Firing resumes in J&K’s Poonch as counter-insurgency operation enters day 15
Firing resumed at the encounter site in Mendhar on Monday as counter-insurgency operation in Jammu and Kashmir’s Surankote (Poonch) and Thanamandi in Rajouri district entered the 15th day.
Firing resumed on Monday at the encounter site in Bhatta Durrian forest of Mendhar, which along with nearby forest areas adjoining Surankote (Poonch) and Thanamandi in Rajouri district in Jammu and Kashmir, is witnessing a massive search operation.
The operation, which saw nine Army personnel killed in separate ambushes in Surankote and Mendhar on October 11 and 14, entered the 15th day on Monday.
#WATCH | Firing resumes in Bhata Dhurian forest area of Jammu & Kashmir's Poonch. Search operation underway for the last 14 days.
Visuals deferred by an unspecified time. pic.twitter.com/SVnous9KZW— ANI (@ANI) October 25, 2021
On Sunday, an arrested Pakistani terrorist was killed, while three security personnel were injured when terrorists opened fire on a joint search party of the Army and police inside a forest in Poonch district.
According to an official, Detenue Zia Mustafa, a Pakistani terrorist of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) was taken to Bhata Durian for identification of a terrorist hideout during the ongoing joint search operation in which three army jawans and a Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) were martyred.
"During the search, when the team approached the hideout, terrorists again opened fire on the joint team of police and army personnel in which two policemen and an army jawan sustained injuries. Zia Mustafa also sustained injuries and during the subsequent operation, additional reinforcements were sent and the dead body of Zia Mustafa was retrieved from the encounter site," the official said.
WHEN DID MENDHAR ENCOUNTER START?
The operation in the forest areas in the twin border districts started on October 11 when terrorists ambushed a search party, killing five soldiers including a Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) in Surankote forest of Poonch before another gunfight started in nearby Thanamandi on the same day.
On October 14, the terrorists struck again and killed four soldiers including a JCO in Nar Khas forest in Mendhar as the security forces extended the cordon and search operation to neutralise the fleeing terrorists.
(With inputs from PTI)
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