Eight Army soldiers were injured during a prolonged gunfight with terrorists in a remote forest area of Kishtwar on Sunday, officials said.
The encounter took place in the upper reaches of the district, where security forces came in contact with terrorists during a search operation. The intense exchange of fire between the two sides lasted for several hours before it subsided in the evening. Click Here To Follow Our WhatsApp Channel
The operation, named Operation Trashi-I, is being led by the Army’s Jammu-based White Knight Corps in coordination with Jammu and Kashmir Police.
In a post on X, the Army said the encounter occurred in the general area of Sonnar, northeast of Chatroo, during a joint counter-terror search operation. The troops were operating in difficult and heavily forested terrain when the terrorists opened fire.
According to officials, a search team came across a group of two to three foreign terrorists believed to be linked to the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad. The terrorists allegedly fired indiscriminately and hurled grenades in an attempt to break the security cordon.
The soldiers retaliated, and reinforcements from the Army, CRPF, and police were rushed to the area to tighten the cordon. Officials said intermittent firing continued until around 5:40 pm.
Eight soldiers sustained injuries, mostly splinter wounds caused by grenade explosions. All injured personnel were evacuated to hospital for treatment, officials added.
A massive search operation is still underway to track and neutralise the terrorists. Security forces have deployed advanced surveillance equipment, including drones and sniffer dogs, to speed up the operation.
This is the third encounter between security forces and terrorists in the Jammu region this year. Earlier encounters were reported in the Kahog and Najote forest areas of Kathua district on January 7 and 13.
Last month, a police officer was killed during an encounter with terrorists in the Majalta area of Udhampur district, where militants escaped under cover of darkness and dense foliage.
Officials said counter-terror operations have been intensified across the Jammu region ahead of Republic Day, following intelligence inputs about renewed attempts by Pakistan-based handlers to push terrorists into the area.
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