JAMMU, Oct 29: Security forces on Tuesday morning gunned down two more terrorists holed up in a forest area near a village in the Akhnoor sector, taking the number of terrorists killed in the 27-hour gunfight near the Line of Control (LoC) to three, officials said.
This was informed today by Major General Sameer Shrivastava, GoC 10 Infantry Division, during a press briefing here today.
An unnamed vehicle and Artificial Intelligence (AI) with high-tech surveillance equipment involving drones was used for the first time during the encounter with terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir’s Akhnoor sector.
“We have used unmanned vehicle, Artificial Intelligence that gave us a quick and successful result,” the GOC said, while adding, “We lost one Army Dog (Phantom) who was ahead when we were doing search operations, and militants fired upon Phantom”.
“It is due to Phantom’s sacrifice that many of the lives were saved,” Major General Sameer Shrivastava said.
DIG, Jammu-Samba-Kathua Range, Shiv Kumar Sharma, who was present at the press conference along with Major General Sameer Shrivastava, said that they have been holding meetings including a one-off with Jammu and Kashmir LG Manoj Sinha to ensure coordination between the Army and police.
“Recently, we have many meetings, including one with LG Manoj Sinha and the aim is that the coordination between the Army and the Police continues so that we can quickly neutralise if we track any terrorist presence anywhere,” he said.
The operation was led by the Indian Army’s White Knight Corps, which engaged the terrorists after round-the-clock surveillance.
“After surveillance throughout the night, an intense firefight unfolded this morning, resulting in a significant victory for our forces,” the White Knight Corps said in an official statement.
War-like stores from the site were also recovered by the Security Forces, which indicate that the terrorists were planning to carry out big attack.
Asked about the number of terrorists likely present on the launching pads south of Pir Panjal, he said the inputs about the figure usually keeps varying with changing times.
“As per the joint intelligence reports, there are 50 to 60 terrorists present there,” the senior Army officer said.
Brig Kapil Taneja, VSM Commander 28 Infantry Brigade was also present in the press conference.
