Firing resumes in J&K’s Poonch as counter-insurgency operation enters day 15

Firing resumed on Monday at the encounter site in Bhatta Durrian forest of Mendhar, which along with nearby forest areas adjoining Surankote (Poonch) and Thanamandi in Rajouri district in Jammu and Kashmir, is witnessing a massive search operation.

The operation, which saw nine Army personnel killed in separate ambushes in Surankote and Mendhar on October 11 and 14, entered the 15th day on Monday.

On Sunday, an arrested Pakistani terrorist was killed, while three security personnel were injured when terrorists opened fire on a joint search party of the Army and police inside a forest in Poonch district.

According to an official, Detenue Zia Mustafa, a Pakistani terrorist of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) was taken to Bhata Durian for identification of a terrorist hideout during the ongoing joint search operation in which three army jawans and a Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) were martyred.