Top army officer reviews ongoing anti-terror operations in hilly areas of Jammu

General Officer Commanding (GOC) of White Knight Corps Lt Gen P K Mishra on Monday reviewed the ongoing anti-terror operations in the hilly areas of Udhampur, Doda and Kishtwar districts of Jammu and Kashmir following recent encounters with terrorists, officials said.

While a massive search operation is underway in Seoj Dhar forest connecting Dudu-Basantgarh in Udhampur district with Bhaderwah in Doda district since Friday evening following the killing of a soldier in a gunfight with terrorists, another operation was launched in Keshwan forest of Kishtwar district after a brief encounter on Sunday afternoon, the officials said.

Accompanied by GOC, counter-insurgency force (Delta) Maj Gen A P S Bal, the corps commander flew in a helicopter to Seoj Dhar to review the ongoing operations this morning, the officials said.

They said though there was no contact with the terrorists after the initial gunfights in Seoj Dhar and Keshwan forests, helicopters were seen hovering over the dense forests which remained besieged with joint parties of army, police and CRPF on the ground carrying out the combing operation.

Drones and sniffer dogs were also deployed in the area to help track down and neutralise the terrorists, the officials said.

Meanwhile, security forces also launched a cordon and search operation in Malhar area of Kathua district after getting information about suspected movement of two terrorists.

The operation is going on but there was no trace of the suspected persons so far, the officials said.