CRPF personnel stand guard near the scene of encounter between security forces and militants.
Credit: PTI
Srinagar: Seven Army soldiers were injured after an encounter broke out between security forces and terrorists in a remote forest area in the upper reaches of Kishtwar district in Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday.
A joint counter-terror operation was continuing in the area, officials said. The exchange of fire took place in the Chatroo area, where security forces had launched a search operation following ‘specific intelligence inputs’. The operation, codenamed Trashi-I, was initiated in the afternoon by the Army’s White Knight Corps in coordination with the Jammu and Kashmir Police.
According to officials, a search team established contact with a group of two to three foreign terrorists in the Son Nar area, northeast of Chhatru. The terrorists, believed to be affiliated with the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), opened indiscriminate fire and lobbed grenades in an attempt to break the cordon. The troops retaliated, triggering intermittent exchanges of fire.
Reinforcements from the Army, the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and the police were rushed to the area to further tighten the cordon, reports said. Advanced surveillance equipment, including drones, along with sniffer dogs, has been deployed to track the militants and speed up the operation.
In a statement, the White Knight Corps said its troops showed “exceptional professionalism and resolve” while operating in difficult terrain and adverse weather conditions. It added that additional forces have been inducted and close coordination is being maintained with civil administration and other security agencies.
Officials said the encounter in Chhatru is the first such incident reported in the area in 2026 and the second in Kishtwar district in about two months. It is also the third encounter involving security forces in the Jammu region this year, after similar operations in the Kahog and Najote forest areas of Kathua district earlier this month.
Three JeM terrorists are believed to be holed up in the Singhpura area of Chhatru, sources said. Two terrorist groups, together comprising around seven members, are suspected to be operating in the region, with one group led by Saifullah Balochi and the other by Adil, both Pakistani nationals.
Sources said nearly 35 Pakistani terrorists are believed to be hiding in the forested and mountainous areas of Doda and Kishtwar districts in the Chenab Valley. Counter-terror operations have been intensified during the winter months, when heavy snowfall in higher reaches restricts militant movement and limits their escape routes.
The latest encounter comes amid heightened security concerns across J&K following a spate of suspected cross-border drone sightings along the Indo-Pak border over the past week.
Officials said multiple drones were detected in the border districts of Poonch and Samba, prompting security forces to activate their anti-unmanned aerial systems on Thursday night. In Poonch, drones were seen hovering close to forward posts along the Line of Control, leading to the immediate implementation of counter-drone measures. Another drone was sighted near the International Border in the Ramgarh sector of Samba district.
Earlier, on Tuesday night, Army personnel opened fire after several suspected Pakistani drones were spotted entering Indian airspace from across the Line of Control in Rajouri district, highlighting what security agencies describe as an uptick in aerial activity often linked to infiltration and arms-dropping attempts.