KISHTWAR: A suspected Pakistani terrorist was killed on Wednesday evening during an ongoing counter-terror operation in the snow-bound higher reaches of Kishtwar district in Jammu and Kashmir, officials said.
This marks the fifth encounter in the Chatroo belt over the past 18 days, as security forces continue their intensified hunt for a group of terrorists believed to be affiliated with the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) outfit.
According to the Army, contact with the terrorists was re-established at around 5:45 pm in the Dichhar area of Kishtwar during a joint operation codenamed Operation Trashi-I.
“In the continuing search and elimination of terrorists in the Kishtwar region, where the hunt has already led to several contacts in dense forests and challenging terrain, contact was re-established with terrorists on the run by troops of the Counter-Insurgency Force Delta, White Knight Corps, J&K Police and CRPF. One terrorist has been successfully neutralised. Operation is in progress,” the Army’s White Knight Corps said in a post on X.
Officials said the latest encounter erupted when a joint search party was conducting combing operations in the Sanjinala-Dichhar area of the Chingam forest.
Despite the entire Chatroo belt remaining snow-bound, security forces have maintained sustained pressure on the terrorists since the first gunfight on January 18 in Sonnar village near Mandral-Singhpora, in which a paratrooper was killed and seven other soldiers were injured.
Although the terrorists initially managed to escape by exploiting dense vegetation and rugged terrain, they were intercepted again a few kilometres away on January 22. However, they evaded capture once more.
The search continued relentlessly even as the region received over two feet of snowfall, leading to additional encounters on January 26 and January 31, officials added.
The operation remains underway.
