JAMMU: As many as eight soldiers of the Army were reportedly injured in an encounter with terrorists in the upper reaches of Jammu and Kashmir’s Kishtwar district on Sunday.
“Contact was established with terrorists in the general area Son Nar, northeast of Chhatru in Kishtwar district during a deliberate search operation conducted as part of ongoing joint counter-terror operations alongwith Jammu and Kashmir police,” Army’s Jammu-based White Knight Corps posted on X.
The intense exchange of fire between the two sides lasted several hours before the guns fell silent. Reinforcements have been deployed to strengthen the cordon and neutralise the terrorists, the officials said. The operation, which the Army’s Jammu-based White Knight Corps has named ‘Operation Trashi-I’, began around noon.
In a post on X, the White Knight Corps said the security forces came in contact with the terrorists in the general area Sonnar, northeast of Chatroo, during a search operation conducted as part of ongoing joint counter-terror exercises along with Jammu and Kashmir Police.
“Operations remain underway with additional forces inducted to reinforce the cordon, supported by close coordination with civil administration and security agencies,” the Army said.
According to the officials, one of the search teams came across a group of two to three foreign terrorists allegedly belonging to Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), who fired indiscriminately and also lobbed a few grenades in an attempt to break the cordon.
The troops retaliated and reinforcements from Army, Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and police were rushed to further tighten the cordon. There was intermittent firing between the two sides till 5.40 pm, the officials said. The injured soldiers were evacuated to the hospital.
3rd gun battle
This is the third encounter between the security forces and terrorists in the Jammu region this year. Encounters broke out in Kahog and Najote forests in the Billawar area of Kathua on January 7 and 13.