Two unidentified militants killed in Jammu and Kashmir’s Rajouri district

The security forces zeroed-in on the position of the militants following which the encounter broke out

Two unidentified militants were killed in an encounter with security forces in Jammu and Kashmir's border district of Rajouri on Friday.

Officials said the encounter erupted after the security forces launched a joint operation in a forest area of Thanamandi, Rajouri, on Thursday night. “In the gunfight, two terrorists were neutralized,” they said and added the operation was on to trace any other militants hiding in the area.

The identification and group affiliation of the slain militants was not known immediately. However, sources said, they may be part of a newly infiltrated group of militants, who may have sneaked into J&K from Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (PoK) last month.

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This year no infiltration has been reported along the LoC in Kashmir. Last year too, there was a marked decrease in infiltration attempts, with 99 such incidents being recorded in 2020 as compared to 216 in 2019.

A senior police officer told DH that as the infiltration has dried up along the LoC in Kashmir, the militant handlers across the border may use the Rajouri and Poonch districts in Jammu region for pushing in militants in the coming months.

In J&K, the LoC is guarded by the army and at many places, the Border Security Force also keeps a watch on the movements along with police who continuously gather inputs about fresh infiltration bids.

In February this month, India and Pakistan agreed to observe a strict ceasefire along the LoC and since then the situation has remained peaceful on the border.