11th day of Mendhar encounter, no major success for SFs
admin Shyam Sood
Rajouri, Oct 21: No major success has been achieved by the security forces(SFs) on the 11th day of Mendhar Counter Terrorist Operation, which was launched on October 11, no terrorist has been eliminated till the end of the 11th day on Thursday.
Reportedly for the last 2-3 days, no contact has been established with the terrorists in Nar Khas forested area in Mendhar tehsil however, cordon and search operation by the Army is still in progress.
The Counter Terrorist Operation was launched in Shahadra-DKG belt on the night of October 10 after intelligence inputs about the presence of a group of terrorists operating in the area for the last about two months.
A contact was established in the morning in which a JCO and 4 soldiers had attained martyrdom while terrorists managed to escape.
The third contact amid ensuing operation was established in the forested area of Nar Khas forest near Bhata Dhurian village (in Mendhar) on October 14 and in the evening a JCO and three soldiers attained martyrdom.
Once again the terrorists managed to escape and since then the entire area has been cordoned off by the Army, paramilitary forces, J&K police, and para commandos of the Indian Army.
During the ensuing encounter, Army has cleared the entire forest and now has launched search and destroy operation but without any success till Thursday.
Reliable sources said that Nar Khas forest remained safe haven for the terrorists in the past also (before 2003) and this time also there are remote chances of their killings.
Either hiding terrorists have been killed inside their hideouts in the heavy mortar shelling and dropping of explosives through drones by the army or they have managed to escape taking advantage of a situation in their favour.
Meanwhile, according to sources security forces have apprehended a suspect while taking photos of vital installations in BG area, taking advantage of the presence of a large number of reporters for their professional engagements.
