A soldier wounded in retaliatory fire by a group of Pakistan-backed terrorists being chased by security forces in J&K's Anantnag died in hospital, making him the fourth casualty of the operation after two Army officers - a Colonel and a Major - and a DSP of J&K Police were killed in action on the first day.
According to reports, the body of a soldier reported missing had also been found, but there was no immediate confirmation from the Army authorities about a fifth death.
A joint team of the Army and police has been on the hunt for three Pakistani terrorists of Lashkar-e-Taiba’s shadow outfit TRF and a local recruit, identified as 28-year-old Uzair Khan of Kokernag, in the forests surrounding the hillside village of Gadool.
Drones and quad copters have been aerially scouring the operational area for the terrorists amid the sound of gunfire and bombs exploding intermittently through the day. Security officials had said that they had “encircled” two of the terrorists who shot and killed Col Manpreet Singh, the commanding officer of 19 Rashtriya Rifles, Maj Aashish Dhonchak and DSP Humayun Bhat the previous day.
The fleeing terrorists have so far been able to keep the security men at bay because of their knowledge of the dense forests and the tough, hilly terrain, sources said. Security forces have tightened the cordon and asked civilians inhabiting the areas in the vicinity of the forested operational zone to stay indoors to avoid collateral damage.
In a separate operation, a joint Army and police team busted a Lashkar-backed terror module at Uri in north Kashmir's Baramulla district by arresting two suspects and seizing some arms and ammunition from them.