SRINAGAR : The death toll in the overnight anti-terror operation in Anantnag district of Jammu and Kashmir rose to three on Sunday as one of the two civilians injured in the encounter succumbed, officials said.

Abdul Rashid Dar, who was injured in terrorist firing on Saturday, succumbed to injuries at a hospital here early Sunday, the officials said.

Two Army personnel were killed and six others, including the now deceased Dhar were injured in a fierce gunfight with terrorists in a forest area of Jammu and Kashmir’s Anantnag district at an altitude of 10,000 feet, officials said as an operation to hunt down the ultras continued despite the challenging topography.

The firefight occurred during a cordon and search operation that was initiated by the security forces based on intelligence reports indicating the presence of terrorists in the remote Ahlan Gagarmandu forest in the Kokernag belt.

According to officials, the skirmish began when a group of terrorists opened fire at the joint search parties comprising Army troopers, including para commandos, and local police.

In the ensuing gun battle, six Army personnel and two civilians were injured, officials said, adding the injured soldiers were promptly taken to a nearby hospital where two died shortly after arrival.

The slain army personnel have been identified as Havildar Dipak Kumar Yadav and Lance Naik Praveen Sharma. The remaining injured personnel and civilians are receiving medical attention, they said.

Reinforcements were deployed in the area and operations to locate and neutralise the fleeing terrorists are underway, the officials said.

This encounter is a grim reminder of a similar operation in the general area of Kokernag last September, during which four security personnel, including Colonel Manpreet Singh, Major Ashish and Deputy SP Humayun Bhat were killed in the week-long engagement with terrorists.

Two terrorists, including a senior commander of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), were also neutralised during that operation.

Security forces have ramped up their efforts in the woods of Kokernag after an encounter in Doda district on July 15 that resulted in the deaths of four soldiers, including a captain.

It is believed that the terrorists involved in the recent Anantnag incident may have crossed over from Kishtwar district after escaping the confrontation in Doda.

Giving details of the operation, a Srinagar-based defence spokesperson said that on August 5, it was confirmed through human and electronic means that terrorists responsible for atrocities in the Doda region in July have sneaked across the Kishtwar range into the Kapran-Garol area in south Kashmir.

The Rashtriya Rifles and the Jammu and Kashmir Police had relentlessly tracked the terrorists, leading to precise operations being launched on the night of August 9 and 10 in the mountains east of Kapran, where the terrorists were reportedly holed up.

According to a spokesperson, suspicious movement was observed around 2 p.m. on August 10. When security forces issued a challenge, it was immediately met with indiscriminate, desperate, and reckless firing from the terrorists, resulting in injuries to two Army personnel and two civilians in the vicinity.

The spokesperson stated that the terror antecedents of the injured civilians were being ascertained.

The area, situated at an altitude above 10,000 feet, with thick undergrowth, large boulders, nallahs, and re-entrants, posed a serious challenge to operations. Security forces moved deliberately and were in the process of hunting down the terrorists.

The spokesperson added that operations were expected to progress through the night as the situation remained tense, with security forces continuing their pursuit of the terrorists in the area.