Onlykashmir.in News Desk
The ongoing Akhal encounter in Kulgam district of Jammu and Kashmir, which began last week, has now become one of the longest-running anti-terror operations in Kashmir in recent years, according to security officials.
Two soldiers were killed in an encounter with terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kulgam as Operation Akhal entered its ninth day on Saturday, officials said. Two more security personnel were also injured in the overnight firing, taking the total number of injured to 10 in one of the valley’s longest-running anti-terror operations.
The two fallen soldiers on Saturday have been identified as Lance Naik Pritpal Singh and Sepoy Harminder Singh.
Besides two soldiers, so far, more than five terrorists have also been killed in the operation, which began on August 1 after security forces launched a cordon and search in a forest area at Akhal in the South Kashmir district, following specific intelligence inputs about the presence of terrorists there.
Intense and intermittent firefights continued throughout the night, with alert Indian Army troops responding with calibrated fire and maintaining sustained contact with the militants. The cordon has been steadily tightened as the operation advances.
Operation Akhal was launched after security forces killed the Lashkar terrorists behind the Pahalgam massacre near Srinagar’s Dachigam area in Operation Mahadev. The very next day, on July 29, another operation named Shiv Shakti was carried out where two more terrorists were eliminated by the Army.
Altogether, around 20 high-profile terrorists have been eliminated after the April 22 attack.
