Security forces, led by the Indian Army, continued to fire mortars and rockets in Anantnag on Sunday, hoping to smoke out a small group of suspected Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militants holed up in a hill in a densely forested area. As the anti-militancy operation entered the fifth day, it suggests that it is part of a possible strategy shift adopted by “highly-trained militants” in Kashmir this year, moving from urban militancy to jungle warfare.
Official sources said that the security forces pounded multiple locations on Gadool hill in Anantnag’s Kokernag area. A hideout set up inside a natural cave in the middle of the alpine forest range, with one small entry point, was completely damaged by mortal shells and rockets. Dozens of mortars and rockets have been fired over the past four days, in what is becoming one of the longest operations in Kashmir in many years.
