Security forces search for militants in J-K's Dachigam forest day after killing LeT terrorist

Security forces continued their search for militants in the Dachigam forest here on Wednesday, a day after a Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist was killed in an encounter in the area, officials said.

According to officials, the security forces halted their search on Tuesday night but maintained a tight cordon in the area. The search for militants in the vast mountainous and forest area of Dachigam resumed in the morning, they said.

"The search operation in the upper reaches of Dachigam continued on Wednesday and the security forces are conducting extensive searches in the area," an official said.

LeT terrorist Junaid Ahmed Bhat was killed in the encounter with security forces on Tuesday. The category "A" terrorist was involved in the October 20 attack near a tunnel construction site in the Gagangir area of Ganderbal in which a local doctor and six non-local labourers were killed.

Dachigam, a national park located in the Zabarwan range of the Himalayas, reaches the districts of Pulwama and Ganderbal on either side and covers an area of about 141 square kilometres.