Three soldiers were injured in an encounter with terrorists in a remote forested area in the upper reaches of Kishtwar district of Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday, officials said. This came as security forces intensified operations to neutralise the militants.
The gunfight broke out around noon in the general area of Sonnar, northeast of Chatroo, during a joint search operation by the Army and the Jammu and Kashmir Police. The operation has been named Operation Trashi-I by the Army’s White Knight Corps, which is responsible for counter-terror operations in the Jammu region.
Operations remain underway
In a post on X, the White Knight Corps said troops came in contact with terrorists during a deliberate search as part of ongoing joint counter-terror exercises. “Operations remain underway with additional forces inducted to reinforce the cordon, supported by close coordination with civil administration and security agencies,” the Army said. It praised the troops for their professionalism while responding to hostile fire in difficult terrain.
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According to officials, one of the search teams encountered a group of two to three foreign terrorists, believed to be affiliated with the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad. The terrorists allegedly opened indiscriminate fire and lobbed grenades in an attempt to break the security cordon. Troops retaliated, triggering intermittent exchanges of fire between the two sides.
Reinforcements from the Army, the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and local police were rushed to the area to further tighten the cordon and prevent the militants from escaping. Three soldiers sustained splinter injuries during the encounter and were evacuated to a hospital, where their condition was stated to be stable.
A massive search operation is continuing in the dense forest area to track down and neutralise the terrorists. Advanced surveillance equipment, including drones, along with sniffer dogs, has been deployed to speed up the operation, officials said.
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Third encounter in Jammu this year
This is the third encounter involving security forces and terrorists in the Jammu region this year. Earlier this month, encounters broke out in the Kahog and Najote forests of the Billawar area in Kathua district on January 7 and January 13.
On December 15 last year, a police officer was killed in an encounter with terrorists at Soan village in the Majalta area of Udhampur district, where the militants managed to escape under the cover of darkness and thick foliage. |
