2 soldiers go missing in Kokernag forests, searches operation on

Srinagar: Two Army soldiers have gone missing in the Ahlan Gadole forest belt of Kokernag area in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district, prompting a massive search operation by security forces.
Quoting officials a local news gathering agency reported that the two soldiers went missing on Monday evening during an operation in the dense forests of Ahlan Gadole. “Contact with them could not be established since last evening,” they said.
“The missing soldiers were part of a small operational team that was carrying out searches following specific inputs about the presence of terrorists in the area,” sources said, adding, “A sudden change in weather conditions disrupted the operation, and during that time, two soldiers went missing.”
The area has recently witnessed snowfall, and the thick foliage and rough terrain are making the search operation difficult.
Sources said additional Army personnel have been deployed, and every corner of the forest is being combed. “Choppers and drones have been pressed into service to trace the missing soldiers,” they said.
Meanwhile, the Army said that two soldiers have gone missing after a severe snowstorm in the Gadole forest area of Kokernag in Anantnag.
In a post on X, the Army’s Chinar Corps wrote, “On the intervening night of 6/7 Oct, an operational team on the Kishtwar range confronted a severe snowstorm 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 are being hampered due to prevailing adverse weather conditions.”
The Ahlan Gadole area has witnessed major encounters in the past. In September 2023, Army Colonel Manpreet Singh, Major Aashish Donchak, and Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Humayun Muzamil were killed in a gunfight in the same forests. In another encounter last year, two soldiers and a civilian were also killed.