J&K Anantnag encounter: Indian solider, missing since Thursday, killed; search operation underway

One more soldier lost his life in Jammu’s Anantnag during an anti-terror operation, taking the total toll to four. Earlier today, the families of Colonel Manpreet Singh, Major Ashish Dhonchak and DSP Humayun Bhat carried out the last rites in their respective states. The unidentified soldier had been missing since yesterday. According to security forces, during joint security operations against terrorists in the Anantnag area, forces dropped grenades on suspected terrorist hideout locations using drones. Grenade launchers were also being used by troops to target the group of terrorists hiding in the area. Meanwhile, security forces in Jammu and Kashmir have cordoned off the Kokernag forest area in Anantnag. A search operation has also been launched to capture the terrorists.

Colonel Manpreet Singh, Commanding Officer of 19 Rashtriya Rifles, Major Ashish Dhonack, and Deputy Superintendent Humayun Bhat were critically injured in the gunfight with terrorists that ensued in the Garol area of Anantnag district in the morning hours of Wednesday.

On Friday, fresh blasts and firing were heard from the forest area in Anantnag and continued till the afternoon as search operations were carried on. Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) offshoot The Resistance Front has claimed responsibility for the attack in Anantnag and Kokernag. The terrorist group stated that the attack was an act of revenge for the death of their veteran leader in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (POK) earlier this month.