NEW DELHI: Fresh exchange of fire between security forces and terrorists was reported in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kathua district on Friday morning, officials said.
Meanwhile, on Thursday, three J&K policemen and three suspected Pakistani terrorists were killed in an ongoing gunfight in the forested Sufain area of Kathua district. A Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), two other policemen, and an Army soldier from 1 PARA (Special Forces) were injured.
The security forces cordoned off the area, and reinforcements were deployed as the operation continues.
“The gunfire continued throughout the day,” an official said, adding that grenades and rocket fire rocked the area with multiple explosions. The wounded security personnel were taken to hospitals in Kathua and Jammu, where they are reported to be in stable condition.
The terrorists are believed to be the same group that escaped after a brief gunfight on Sunday evening near Sanyal village in Hiranagar sector, close to the Pakistan border. Security forces have deployed advanced surveillance tools, UAVs, drones, and sniffer dogs in the search operation.
The Indian Army’s Rising Star Corps reported the death of Police personnel of the JK police in the ongoing encounter between security forces and terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kathua district.
What happened so far
Earlier on Thursday, an exchange of fire broke out in the Sufain area of Kathua during an anti-terrorist operation. Terrorists opened indiscriminate fire on security forces, triggering a heavy gunfight.
On March 23, a similar incident was reported in the Hiranagar area of Kathua, following which the J&K Police and troops of the Rising Star Corps of the Indian Army launched an intelligence-based joint operation.
“Based on intelligence input regarding the presence of terrorists, a joint operation has been launched by @JmuKmrPolice & troops of #RisingStar Corps on 23 Mar 25 in the general area Saniyal #Hiranagar. Operations in progress,” the Rising Star Corps, Indian Army, posted on X.
During the search operation on Monday, security teams recovered four loaded magazines of an M4 carbine, two grenades, a bulletproof jacket, sleeping bags, tracksuits, and materials for making improvised explosive devices (IEDs). A breakthrough came the next day when a woman in Dinga Amb village reported seeing two men in combat clothing asking for water, prompting an expansion of the search.
Meanwhile, in Rajouri district, security forces discovered a terrorist hideout in the Manyal Gali forests of Thanamandi, seizing live rounds, a grenade, a gas cylinder, a solar panel, and food supplies.
The recent terror activities have sparked protests in Jammu, where Dogra Front and Shiv Sena activists burned a Pakistani flag in protest against cross-border terrorism. Security has also been tightened along the Jammu-Pathankot national highway and link roads leading to border villages to prevent terrorist escape routes.