Search operation continues in Gadool forests to trace missing paratroopers
Srinagar, Oct 9 (UNI) The search operation in the Gadool forests of south Kashmir’s Anantnag district resumed today to trace two missing elite paratroopers, officials said.
They said a vast forest area covering Gadool and its neighbouring Mahver and Ahlan area is being combed by joint teams of the Army and police to locate the missing soldiers. Helicopters are also being used to aid the search amid dense vegetation and treacherous terrain, which have made the operation extremely challenging.
“So far, there is no clue about the missing troopers,” an official said.
The Army’s Chinar Corps, in a post on X last evening, confirmed that the two soldiers went missing during an operation in the area.
“On the intervening night of 6/7 Oct an operational team on Kishtwar range confronted a severe snow storm and whiteout conditions in the mountains of South Kashmir. Since then, two soldiers have gone out of communication. Intense Search and Rescue operations have been launched but hampered due to prevailing adverse weather conditions,” the Srinagar-based Chinar Corps said.
The forest area where the soldiers went missing was the site of a fierce gun battle on September 13, 2023. On that night, senior officers came under heavy fire as they approached a suspected militant hideout in the Gadole forest of Kokernag.
An Army Colonel, a Major, and a Deputy Superintendent of J&K Police were killed in the encounter. Another soldier was injured, and his body was recovered on the third day of the operation. The week-long operation had ended with the killing of top Lashkar-e-Toiba commander Uzair Khan.
