Kishtwar, Jan 18: Three Indian Army soldiers sustained injuries on Sunday during a fierce encounter with militants in the dense forests of Kishtwar district. The gunfight broke out in the Sonnar area, located northeast of Chatroo, as joint teams from the Army and Jammu and Kashmir Police conducted a targeted search operation.
According to the Army’s Jammu-based White Knight Corps, the exchange began when a search party intercepted a group of two to three foreign terrorists, believed to be affiliated with the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) outfit. The militants opened fire indiscriminately and lobbed grenades in a desperate bid to escape the security cordon.
“Three of our soldiers suffered splinter injuries and were subsequently evacuated to the hospital. A massive search operation is underway,” an official statement noted regarding the condition of the personnel.
The military has since saturated the area with additional troops from the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and local police to tighten the perimeter. Advanced surveillance technology, including drones and sniffer dogs, is being utilized to track the militants through the difficult terrain.
“Operations remain underway with additional forces inducted to reinforce the cordon, supported by close coordination with civil administration and security agencies,” the Army directly said in a communication following the initial contact.
This encounter marks the third major gunfight in the region this month, following previous operations in the Kathua district on January 7 and 13. Security across the Jammu division has been placed on high alert as the Republic Day celebrations approach.
Officials mentioned that counter-terror efforts have been ramped up due to intelligence reports suggesting that handlers across the border are making “desperate attempts” to facilitate infiltration. The heightened vigil follows a December incident in Udhampur where a police officer lost his life during a similar operation.
