Srinagar, Sept 19:In a decisive operation launched on Tuesday to combat the terrorists embroiled in the Anantnag gun battle, security forces succeeded in eliminating Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorist commander Uzair Khan. This marks the culmination of a week-long gun battle between security forces and terrorists in Anantnag’s Garol forests.
Following the killing of the LeT commander, the Anantnag standoff, termed as one of the major anti-terror operations in Kashmir’s history, ended on Tuesday.
Talking to media persons, Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) Kashmir Zone Vijay Kumar said the forces have retrieved terrorist Uzair Khan’s body from the encounter site. He also claimed the presence of another unidentified body near the spot.
ADGP said that the intelligence had indicated the presence of two to three terrorists in the vicinity while the efforts were extended to locate the third individual.
“There is another body lying on the ground. We had information about two to three terrorists. We will continue the search to look if there is a third terrorist,” he said.
In response to a query whether the operation has been called off, he said the searches will remain on for some time and urged people not to go closer to the encounter site as there were possibilities of unexploded shells in the area.
A police officer told Rising Kashmir that in the past two decades, Anantnag encounter is one of the biggest anti-terror operations in the history of Kashmir.
“The operation witnessed use of modern equipment aerial assets, including helicopters, quadcopters, and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) such as the Israeli Heron Mark-2 to pinpoint the terrorists’ locations in tough mountain terrain,” he added.
Apart from that, the Army also employed Under Barrel Grenade Launchers (UBGL) and Rocket Propelled Grenades to target terror hideouts in the area.
Pertinent to mention here, seven dead bodies have been recovered from the encounter site since the beginning of the encounter. The slain include Colonel Manpreet Singh, Commanding Officer of 19 RR, Major Ashish Dhonchak, Deputy Superintendent of Jammu and Kashmir Police Humayun Bhat, two Army soldiers who laid down their lives during the fight.
Also two terrorists including LeT Commander Uzair Khan have been killed by security forces.
As per Police records, Uzair had joined terrorist ranks in July 2022. But he came to limelight only last week after he along with two more terrorists launched a deadly ambush on a joint team of security forces in Garole Kokernag.
“Terrorist Uzair hailing from Nagam in Anantnag, disappeared in July last year, opting to join terrorist ranks. He discontinued his education at the 12th grade level and pursued a course in electrical work. Before his disappearance, the slain LeT terrorist commander was employed as an electrician in his village,” police said.
Top officials from the security grid in Jammu and Kashmir including Army’s Northern Command Commander , including Director General of Police (DGP) and the General Officer Commanding (GOC) Army’s 15 Corps, were closely monitoring the operation.
The encounter between security forces and terrorists that claimed the lives of three officers and a soldier, had started on september 13.
