Shopian: Massive joint operation carried out to clear terrorists from valley

Srinagar: A joint serach operation was launched by security forces on Thursday in the South of Kashmir to clear the terrorists in the area.  A team involving 4,000 troopers went door to door and searched houses to ensure no terrorist slips from the hands. During the operation, terrorists attacked an army patrol leaving a civilan dead and two personnel injured. Door-to-door search of houses, a practice stopped in the late 1990s, was reintroduced with security forces comprising army, police and CRPF personnel. The operation was carried out in more than a dozen villages in Shopian district, about 55 km from Srinagar.  While the search was on, several helicopters and drones hovered over the area. As per an Army official, the operation, launched after a spate of militant attacks in the region, was perhaps the biggest in more than a decade in the violence hit Kashmir Valley. After a 12-hour operation, the militants attacked when army troops were carrying out a re-check of Chowdari Gund and Kellar area of Shopian this evening, official sources said. They said the militants had laid an ambush and fired indiscriminately when the troops approached the village looking for militants. Two jawans and a civilian, who was passing by, were injured. The civilian later succumbed to injuries. The troops returned the fire besides alerting other teams who laid a cordon around the spot. The cordon and search operation (CASO) followed intelligence inputs about the presence of militants, including foreign terrorists, in the area, an official said. However, no arrests were made during the search. As per sources, dreaded terrorist Junaid Mattu also fled Srinagar during the operation.