Jammu: Security forces resumed a search operation on Thursday morning to track down terrorists hiding in a forest in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kathua district.
A security personnel suffered a minor bullet injury on Wednesday after a gunfight broke out between the forces and the terrorists, officials said.
The forces have busted a “well-constructed” terrorist hideout during the joint operation, they added.
The action by the Special Operations Group (SOG) of the Jammu and Kashmir Police and other security forces was launched at Kahog village in Billawar on Wednesday evening, leading to an encounter, the officials said.
“The search operation to track down the hiding terrorists has been resumed after a nightlong cordon,” a senior security official said.
The searches are being conducted in the Dhanu Parole-Kamadh nallah area. Additional forces have been called in, along with aerial surveillance, to pin down the terrorists hiding in the dense forest, the officials said.
“Despite darkness, thick vegetation and treacherous terrain, the SOG is relentlessly engaging the terrorists. Teams of the CRPF are also participating in the joint operation,” Bhim Sen Tuti, Inspector General of Police (IGP), Jammu Zone, said in a post on X.
The gunfight broke out at Kahog on Wednesday evening after the forces launched a search operation based on information about the presence of two to three terrorists in the area.
During the exchange of fire, a security personnel suffered a minor injury after a bullet hit his leg. He has been hospitalised, the officials said.
“The SOG has engaged the terrorists in the forest area of Kamadh nallah, Kathua,” the IGP said in another post on X.
According to the officials, the firing between the two sides lasted for more than an hour. It was not immediately known if any terrorist was hit in the gunfight.
There are reports of the movement of three groups of infiltrating terrorists in the region.
The officials said during the search operation, a well-constructed terrorist hideout was busted near the Kamadh nallah on Thursday.
Utensils, food items and clothes were found from the hideout.
The Army, the Border Security Force (BSF), police and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) are continuously carrying out search operations in the area, identifying border dwellers and intensifying patrols along the International Border in Samba and Kathua districts and the adjoining areas of Punjab for the last one month, the officials said.
A multi-tier security grid comprising the BSF, border police and Village Defence Guards (VDGs) has been put on alert ahead of the Republic Day on January 26.
Kathua has witnessed several encounters between security forces and terrorists over the last two years, resulting in the killings of 16 people — 11 security personnel and five terrorists.
While seven security personnel and two terrorists were killed in 2024, when ultras revived their activities in the district after more than a decade, seven persons — four security personnel and three terrorists — were killed in 2023.
In addition, four civilians died under mysterious circumstances, with locals suspecting that terrorists killed them.
