Residents Abandon Houses As Anti-Militancy Operation Enters 8th Day In South Kashmir’s Kulgam

Last Friday evening, Ghulam Hassan Parray, 55, saw a large number of security force personnel go into the forest that lies only at a distance of one kilometer from his residence in Akhal area of south Kashmir’s Kulgam. The gunfight between the security forces and militants started immediately after a heavy cordon had been thrown around in the woods near his house on August 1. On the eighth day of the encounter, standoff continued between the troops and militants with nearly half of the villagers having abandoned their houses to move to safer places.

On August 1, Army said that the contact was established in the Akhal area and a joint operation remains in progress in the South Kashmir village between the security forces and militants. Next day, the Army added that an intermittent and intense firefight continued with the militants through the night and the troops responded with “calibrated fire" and tightened the noose "while maintaining contact” with the militants. The Army said on Saturday that one militant has been killed by the security forces so far and operation continues in the area.

On the eight day today, local residents said, an exchange of gunfire continued between the security forces and militants and they heard loud blasts as well.

Security forces are looking for an unspecified number of militants in the dense forest. The cordon was launched after the security forces received information that the militants had set up hideouts in the forest range and had a good stockpile of arms and ammunition.  The gunfight is one of the longest encounters in decades in Kashmir.

An Army spokesperson said that the operation is ongoing. “As of now one militant has been killed and there is no confirmation from our side about any people having been wounded. We have released a statement about the death of one militant and further details would be shared only when the gunfight concludes,” the spokesperson said.

Local residents said that the area remains heavily dense with trees and connects right up to Banihal along the Srinagar-Jammu national highway. 

“It is the first time that a gunfight like this has happened in the area and we have seen drones and helicopters hover in the sky as the gunfight continued today as well. An exchange of gunshots and blast-like sound was also heard in the area,” said Ghulam Hassan.

Earlier, police said that the DGP Nalin Prabhat who was accompanied by IGP Kashmir Zone, VK Birdi, visited Kulgam to assess the security situation and held an operational review with GOC Victor Force and other officers of J&K Police and Army in Kulgam.

According to local residents, students skipped schools in the area while the public movement on the roads was thin post the encounter.

Chief Education Officer (CEO) Kulgam, Mohammad Shabir, said that the “We are assessing the situation that has emerged after the gunfight in the area to make schools fully operational.” He added that the education has been affected due to the ongoing gunfight and they are looking at restoring the academic activities fully when the situation would become normal in the area.

Mehboob ul Haq, another local resident, said that a large number of people have abandoned their houses and students have skipped school, some of which wore deserted look.

“Besides the government schools, students remained absent from some private schools as well,” he said.

Ghulam Hassan Parray said that the out of the nearly 450 households in the area, over fifty percent have been abandoned by the people. “People left houses due to the continuous firing in the area, and ours is among the only few families that chose to stay back. I am receiving calls everyday from the people who left their houses that whether firing has stopped or not so that they could return home. People have abandoned the place, leaving behind livestock as well,” he said.