The 11-day-long anti-terrorist operation in Jammu and Kashmir's Kulgam district has come to nought. No terrorist was found after a heavy exchange of firing and also killing of two army soldiers on Saturday, sources said.
It was one of the longest anti-terrorist operations in the recent past in Jammu and Kashmir that witnessed heavy gunfights and explosions.
At least five Pakistani terrorists were believed to be hiding. But on Saturday, after two Army soldiers, Pritpal Singh and Harminder Singh, were killed in action, it appears terrorists have managed to break the cordon, the sources said.
Since then, there have been no reports of firing, even as a search operation was carried out for two days. Hundreds of troops from the Army, paratroopers, CRPF and Jammu and Kashmir were involved in the operation. Ten soldiers were also injured during the protracted encounter.
"Searches over the last two days have not yielded any results. There was no firing either," said a senior official.
Since 2021, Pakistan has been pushing terrorists into Jammu and Kashmir who are well-trained in jungle warfare. Instead of operating in urban and populated areas, the battle-hardened terrorists engage security forces in treacherous mountains and forests.
As a result, troops often suffer casualties in protracted operations. Also, flushing out terrorists from jungles requires a large-scale troop deployment for cordon and searches in challenging terrain and dense forests.
The operation in Akhal was launched on August 1 after security forces received information about the presence of a large group of terrorists. In the initial shootout on the foothills forest, one local terrorist was killed. But as the encounter spread to the forest area, things became difficult for the forces as well-entrenched Pakistani terrorists targeted security forces at multiple places during the operation.
Besides heavy firing and occasional explosions, drones were also seen dropping explosives on target areas in the thick alpine forests of Akhal.
