SRINAGAR: An encounter has started between militants and security forces in a forest area of Kamadh Nullah in Jammu and Kashmir’s border district of Kathua on Wednesday evening.
Three Jaish-e-Mohammad militants are reportedly trapped in the encounter, which is the first gunfight between militants and security forces in 2026.
Acting on specific information about the presence of a group of militants, a joint contingent of J&K police’s Special Operation Group (SOG) and CRPF launched a search operation in the forest area of Kathua, said a police official.
“SOG Kathua has engaged terrorists in the forest of Kamadh Nullah, Kathua,” Inspector General of Police, Jammu, Bhim Sen Tuti said in a post on X.
The militants fired on the search party after being challenged. The fire was returned by the troops, triggering an encounter.
“Despite darkness, thick vegetation and treacherous terrain, SOG personnel were relentlessly engaging the terrorists,” the IGP said.
He said CRPF teams are also participating in the joint operation.
Sources added that army men have also joined the search operation.
Security personnel have been using surveillance gadgets to keep track of militants and prevent them from disappearing from their radar.
The security forces have launched an offensive in the upper reaches of Kathua, Poonch, Rajouri, Udhampur, Doda and Kishtwar district after the onset of winter to track down militants in the dense forest area.
Militants from the People's Anti-Fascist Front (PAFF), which is considered an off-shoot of the Jaish-e-Mohammad, and the Lashkar-e-Toiba are suspected to be hiding in the forested stretches of Doda, Kishtwar, Udhampur, Rajouri, Poonch and Kathua districts in Jammu region.
The region has witnessed numerous encounters and brief shootouts in Udhampur, Kathua, Doda, Kishtwar, Rajouri and Poonch over the past six months.
On December 16, a policeman was killed in an encounter with militants in Soan village, close to a forest area, in Udhampur district.