No exchange in fire in Mendhar forests since Saturday

JAMMU - No exchange of fire has been reported since Saturday morning from the Beri Rakh forests in Mendhar area of Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch district, where an intermittent gun battle had been going on since Tuesday night, an army officer said Sunday.

The army suffered heavy losses in the gun battle - a major was killed and 11 others, including a colonel and a major, were injured. Two terrorists were killed.

“There has been no further contact with the terrorists (since Saturday morning),” the officer said, adding searches are going on.

Though locals of the area suspect that the remaining two terrorists might have been able to escape, taking advantage of the thick cover of forests and mountainous terrain, the army is still on its guard in the area.

“We have not called off the operation as yet,” the army officer said, declining to speculate about the fate of two other terrorists who were believed to be trapped in the forests.