Suspected hideouts targeted with grenade launchers
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, May 28: As search operation against terrorists entered Day 6, security forces launched a fresh fire assault and multiple grenade launcher attacks on specific suspected hideouts in Dorimal area of Gambhir Mugalan in Rajouri district but the success remained elusive.
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Helicopters and drones are also being used to track down the terrorists, the sources said amid reports that two to three Pakistani terrorists, including a commander, are believed to be hiding in the area.
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The fresh assault came a day after Northern Army Commander Lieutenant General Pratik Sharma visited the area and reviewed the ongoing anti-terror operation in the dense forests.
Lt Gen Sharma interacted with representatives of local Army formations, Jammu and Kashmir Police (JKP), Intelligence Bureau (IB), CRPF and other security agencies involved in the operations. He commended the security forces for their relentless resolve, high morale and unwavering commitment while operating under challenging conditions.
Officials said that the fresh fire assault was launched on suspected hideouts in the Dorimal-Gambhir Mugalan belt of the Manjakote area amid narrowing down of the cordon to eliminate terrorists believed to be hiding in the region.
The firing and MGL assaults resulted in plumes of smoke rising from the forested areas, indicating that the targeted locations were struck during the operation, they said.
Security forces, which were following blood stains believed to have been left behind by the fleeing terrorists on Monday, have been closely tracking the suspected movement of the ultras, officials said.
A day before, security forces busted a hideout after a brief exchange of fire amid strengthening of the cordon around the area where blood stains were detected.
Backed by helicopters, drones and sniffer dogs, joint teams of the Army, Jammu and Kashmir Police and paramilitary forces are conducting extensive searches in the adjoining areas. The cordon around the operation zone has been further strengthened with the induction of additional troops.
Amid intensified checking of vehicles on roads connected to the area, more reinforcements have been rushed to the forests.
On Saturday, an encounter broke out between terrorists and security forces in the Dorimal area after a joint team launched the operation following intelligence inputs about the presence of terrorists in the Singhpora-Chatroo area.
A joint team of the Army, Jammu and Kashmir Police and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) had launched a massive cordon-and-search operation in the area based on specific information about the movement of suspected terrorists.
The operation led to a brief exchange of fire after contact was established with the terrorists, prompting security forces to continue extensive searches in the rugged and heavily forested terrain.
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