Two soldiers killed, 5 including two civilians injured in Anantnag encounter (2nd Ld)

Srinagar, Aug 10 (IANS) Two Army soldiers were killed while five others, including three soldiers and two civilians, were injured during an ongoing operation against terrorists in J&K’s Anantnag district on Saturday.

Officials said that two Army soldiers who sustained injuries in the encounter between the terrorists and the security forces in the Ahlan Gandole area of Kokernag succumbed to their injuries.

“Five persons, including three soldiers and two civilians, have been injured in the ongoing operation. The injured have been shifted to a hospital. Terror links of the two injured civilians are being ascertained," an official said.

“A team of police and security forces launched a cordon and search operation at Ahlan based on a specific input. As the joint team approached the suspected area, the hiding militants fired upon the joint party, leading to an encounter," the police said.

"Two civilians have also been reported injured due to indiscriminate, desperate and reckless firing by terrorists in the ongoing operation; they have been provided immediate medical aid and evacuated further. Operations are under progress," the Army's Chinar Corps said in a post on X.

Saturday's gunbattle is the second major encounter in Kokernag in the last one year. In September 2023, a Commanding Officer, a Major, and a Deputy Superintendent of Police were among those killed during a gunbattle with terrorists in the Kokernag forest.

Security forces have been aggressively targeting terrorists, their over ground workers (OGWs), sympathisers, and harbourers in order to eradicate the ecosystem of terror from the Union Territory.

In addition to this, ubiquitous presence of security forces is maintained around the sensitive security installations to prevent any terrorist attack at these places.

There have been a series of encounters between terrorists and security forces across Kashmir in the recent past in which many terrorists have been eliminated.

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