Kishtwar 18 Jan(KNB): Three Army personnel were injured on Sunday during an encounter with terrorists in a remote forest area in the upper reaches of Kishtwar district in Jammu and Kashmir, officials said.
Following the gunfight, additional reinforcements were rushed to the area. The operation, launched around noon, has been named “Operation Trashi-I” by the Army’s Jammu-based White Knight Corps.
In a post on X, the White Knight Corps said that security forces established contact with terrorists in the general area of Sonnar, northeast of Chatroo, during a planned search operation. The search was being carried out as part of ongoing joint counter-terrorism operations with the Jammu and Kashmir Police.
“Operations are continuing, with additional forces inducted to strengthen the cordon. The operation is being supported through close coordination with civil administration and other security agencies,” the Army said. It also praised the troops for displaying exceptional professionalism and determination while responding to hostile fire in difficult terrain and challenging conditions.
Officials said one of the search teams encountered a group of two to three foreign terrorists, allegedly linked to Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM). The terrorists opened indiscriminate fire and hurled grenades in an attempt to break the security cordon.
The troops retaliated effectively, and reinforcements from the Army, Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and Jammu and Kashmir Police were immediately deployed to further tighten the cordon. Intermittent exchanges of fire continued between both sides for some time.
Three soldiers sustained splinter injuries during the encounter and were evacuated to a hospital for treatment. A large-scale search operation is underway to track down and eliminate the terrorists.
Advanced surveillance equipment, including drones, along with sniffer dogs, has been deployed to accelerate 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 the Billawar region in Kathua district on January 7 and January 13.
Officials said security operations have been further intensified ahead of Republic Day celebrations to ensure peace and security, amid intelligence inputs suggesting renewed attempts by Pakistan-based handlers to push more terrorists into the region.(KNB)