Three Pakistani terrorists, including a Jaish-e-Mohammad commander named Saifullah, were killed by security forces in the forests of Kishtwar district, Jammu and Kashmir, on Friday. The operation started on April 9 and saw the elimination of the terrorists in two phases. The first terrorist was shot and killed on Friday morning, while two others were gunned down later in the day. The terrorists killed were identified as Saifullah, Farman, and Basha.
The operation involved elite commandos from the Army’s 2, 5, and 9 Para regiments, the CRPF, and the Special Operations Group (SOG) of the Jammu and Kashmir Police. The forces carried out the operation in the snow-covered mountains and dense forests of the area, making the task even more challenging. To track the terrorists, the Army used helicopters.
A large amount of arms, ammunition, and explosives was found at the site of the encounter.
Brigadier JVS Rathi from the 5 Sector Assam Rifles and DIG Shridhar Patil from the Doda-Kishtwar-Ramban range will hold a media briefing at the 5 Assam Rifles headquarters on Saturday to provide more details about the operation.
At the same time, security forces have launched further anti-terror operations in Udhampur and Kishtwar districts. These operations are part of a bigger effort to track down more terrorists who are believed to have crossed the international border in the Hiranagar sector of Kathua district in recent weeks.
In one of the incidents, a group of three terrorists, suspected to be from Jaish-e-Mohammad, entered a villager’s house in Basantgarh, Udhampur, on Wednesday. The terrorists ate food, took a mobile phone, clothes, shoes, a bag, and an umbrella before leaving.
Earlier, on April 3, two terrorists had entered a house in Udhampur’s Majalta block. They held the family hostage and stole food and a mobile phone before escaping.
Read More: Encounter Ongoing in J&K’s Kathua, Three Jaish Terrorists Believed to Be Trapped
The terrorists had been tracked since March 23, when they were first seen in a forest in Saniyal village, near the Hiranagar sector. On March 27, an encounter in Sufain forest near Jakhole village, Kathua district, resulted in the deaths of two terrorists and four policemen.
Meanwhile, along the Line of Control (LoC) in the Keri Battal sector of Akhnoor, Jammu, the Pakistan Army violated the ceasefire in an attempt to push armed terrorists across the border. The Indian Army retaliated, and during the exchange of fire, a Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO), Kuldeep Singh, was critically injured. He was evacuated to a hospital but unfortunately died from his injuries.
The Army will likely issue a statement soon regarding this incident.
