E-Paper
11 days & counting: Op Akhal one of longest encounters with terrorists
Officials said they had information about the presence of a big group of militants in the forests when the operation was launched 11 days ago. “The operation is still going on and every precaution is being taken while moving inside the forests due to the tough terrain,” a police officer privy to the details said.
The anti-terror operations playing out in the dense forests of Akhal Kulgam entered its 11th day on Monday, making it one of the longest encounter-cum-search operations of the decade. Hundreds of army, police and CRPF personnel have been pressed into service, with two militants, two soldiers and over five security personnel killed so far. The Army, however, has acknowledged the killing of only one militant, whose identity has so far not been revealed.
Tough terrain proving to be a challenge
Officials said they had information about the presence of a big group of militants in the forests when the operation was launched 11 days ago. “The operation is still going on and every precaution is being taken while moving inside the forests due to the tough terrain,” a police officer privy to the details said.
Director general of police (DGP) Nalin Prabhat and top Army commanders have visited the operation spot twice to get feedback from the troopers involved in this operation.
Army and police are using drones, quadcopters and other surveillance gadgets to trace the hiding militants. “In the last 11 days, there have been firing exchanges between militants and the forces. The operation is progressing slowly due to the tough terrain,” said another officer who has knowledge of this area.
Other prolonged ops in the past
In 2023, an operation in Garol forests in Kokernag South Kashmir spanned for seven days after two senior army officers, Colonel Manpreet Singh Commanding Officer 19 Rashtriya Rifles and Major Ashish Donchak, and a deputy SP of Humayun Muzamil Bhat were killed. The operation ended with the killing of two militants of Lashkar-e-Taiba.
In 2015, security forces were engaged in a 24-day-long operation in Manigah forests in North Kashmir’s Kupwara district. The Manigah operation was launched on November 17, 2015, after two-three terrorists managed to sneak into the dense forest following initial encounters with security forces, in which the Commanding Officer of 41 Rashtriya Rifles Colonel Santosh Mahadik was killed on November 17 and another officer Lt Col Karan Bir Singh Natt was injured on November 22. The terrorists, however, couldn’t be traced as the operation took place close to the LoC, raising suspicion that the terrorists could have escaped to PoK.
Operation Akhal is the third major encounter between security forces and terrorists in the Union Territory over the last two weeks.
Under Operation Shivshakti, which took place on the intervening night of July 29-30, two suspected Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists were killed when the army scuttled an infiltration attempt along the Line of Control (LoC) in the Digwar sector of Poonch district.
Earlier, on July 28, three Pakistani terrorists were killed during an encounter in Srinagar. Codenamed Operation Mahadev, people aware of details said that one of the masterminds of Pahalgam terror attack, Suleiman Shah, was among those killed in the gunfight.
