NEW DELHI, Jan 18: Seven soldiers were injured while engaging terrorists holed up in harsh terrain in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kishtwar, police said.
An encounter broke out between security forces and terrorists in the Singhpora area of Kishtwar district in J&K on Sunday, police said. Intermittent firing is going on as three terrorists of the Pakistan-backed Jaish-e-Mohammad terror outfit are likely engaged in the gunbattle who also lobbed grenades at the security personnel, it is learnt.
The soldiers were carrying out an operation in Kishtwar’s Chatroo when they were shot at by terrorists, sources said, adding they retaliated in force and ensured the evacuation of the injured troops to a hospital.
The operation, which the Indian 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 deliberate 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, commending the troops for their exceptional professionalism and resolve while responding to hostile fire under challenging terrain and conditions.
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 the army, Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and the police were rushed to further tighten the cordon. There was intermittent firing between the two sides for some time, the officials said.
Advanced surveillance equipment, including drones, and sniffer dogs have been deployed to speed up the operation. This was the third encounter between the security forces and terrorists in the Jammu region this year. Encounters broke out in Kahog and Najote forests in Billawar area of Kathua district on January 7 and 13, respectively.
(Manas Dasgupta)
