Two soldiers killed, two civilians among five injured as encounter rages in Kokernag

ANANTNAG — Two soldiers were killed, three others injured in a fierce encounter in Ahlan forest area of Kokernag in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district on Saturday. Two civilians also sustained bullet wounds.

The district witnessed a gunfight between security forces and the terrorists after a gap of 11 months. An official told the news agency KNO that a joint team of police, Army, and CRPF, after receiving information about the presence of terrorists, launched a search operation in the forest area of Gagar-Mandu Rayl-Mandu, Ahlan, Kokernag.

He said that the army was already on high alert and was conducting searches in the area after they had received inputs that a group of terrorists might have moved to Kokernag forests from Doda.

“As the joint forces intensified searches towards the suspected spot, hiding terrorists fired upon the party, which retaliated, triggering an encounter. During the initial exchange of fire, at least five soldiers and two civilians were injured, all of whom were evacuated and hospitalised,” the official said.

He said that the evacuation process of the injured took as the nearest motorable area, Ahlan, which is around 19 kms from the encounter spot.

The official added that among the five injured soldiers, two succumbed to injuries while the rest were being treated at the hospital.

He acknowledged that it was a challenging encounter given the tough terrain of the area with no road connectivity and mobile network.

“All modern technologies have been put in use to track the terrorists in the area,” he said, adding that as of now, search operations are going on and efforts are on to track down the hiding terrorists.

The Army in a post on ‘X’ said that based on a specific input, a joint operation was launched in the Kokernag area.

“Contact was established, and a firefight ensued during which two personnel were injured and evacuated from the area,” the army said.

“Based on specific intelligence input, a joint operation was launched by the Indian Army, Jammu Kashmir Police & CRPF today in the general area of Kokernag, Anantnag. Contact was established, and a firefight ensued. Two personnel have been injured and evacuated from the area. Operations are in progress,” the Army said.

“Two civilians have also been reported injured due to indiscriminate, desperate and reckless firing by terrorists in the ongoing operation; they have been provided immediate medical aid and evacuated further,” the Army said. “Terror antecedents of civilians being established.”

Notably, in September last year, two Army officers, one J&K Police DSP and two terrorists were killed in the Kokernag forest area.

‘Area poses serious operational challenges’

Defence spokesman in Srinagar, in a statement to the news agency KNO, said that it had been earlier confirmed through Human and Electronic means on August 5, 2024, that terrorists responsible for atrocities and incidents in the Doda region in the month of July 24, had sneaked across the Kishtwar range into the Kapran Garol area in South Kashmir.

“Rashtriya Rifles and J&K Police have ever since relentlessly tracked these terrorists, and precise operations were launched on the night of August 9 and 10, 2024, in the area East of Kapran, in the mountains, where these terrorists were reportedly holed up,” the spokesman said.

He said that the suspicious movement was observed on August 10. “On challenging the terrorists, they responded with indiscriminate, desperate and reckless firing in which two army personnel and two civilians, in the vicinity, were injured,” the spokesman said, adding that “the terror antecedents of the injured civilians are being ascertained.”

“The area is above 10000 feet in high altitude, has thick undergrowth, large boulders, Nallahs and re-entrants that pose a serious challenge to operations. Security forces are moving deliberately and are in the process of hunting down the terrorists. Operations will progress through the night,” he added.