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Army gears for final assault

JAMMU: The Army is gearing for the final assault in the Bhati Dhar woods of Mendhar in Poonch district to flush out the militants, who have been holed up there for the past seven days.

So far, two jawans and a policeman have been killed in an encounter.

Sources told The Hindu that the Army, after having adopted a wait and watch policy to tire out the militants, on Wednesday decided to zero in on them. Troops of 37 and 39 Rashtriya Rifles, besides the Special Operations Group of the Jammu and Kashmir police, had cordoned off the area following intelligence inputs.

Gurdeep Singh, Brigadier General Staff at 16 Corps here, said it was a difficult operation given the hostile weather and terrain.

The Army busted three cave hideouts and recovered arms, ammunition and radio sets. “Based on the intercepts that we have got, the militants, who have been exchanging fire with the security forces for the past one week, seem to be from the JeM [Jaish-e-Mohammad].” Brig. Singh said there was no report of permanent bunkers being set up.

The sources said the troops were facing resistance what with the militants, trapped between two cordons of the Army, firing on them.

Maximum precautions were being taken to avoid casualty among troops, the sources said. They confirmed that the Army had gone nearly 400 metres inside the woods and was in the thick of the operation. It was covering the distance metre by metre. The strategy was to wear out the militants out but that did not seem to be working; so “the forces have geared up for the final assault now. But after sunset the firing has been stopped.”

No body of militants was recovered till now though the Army claimed three days ago that four of them had been killed.

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