At least two terrorists associated with Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) were killed in an encounter with security forces in the upper reaches of Basantgarh in Udhampur that started in the early hours of Wednesday.
Both neutralised terrorists are believed to be foreign nationals; besides the recovery of their bodies, An M4 carbine, along with an AK assault rifle, a pistol, and a large sum of ammunition, was recovered from the possession of the two terrorists.
Although the identities of the terrorists haven’t yet been set up so far, they were believed to be Pakistani nationals.
This marks the first successful counterterrorism operation in the dense forest, which has been a terror-infested hot spot.
In the past six months, more than six attacks on security forces have occurred in this region, claiming the lives of a village defence guard on April 28 and a CRPF inspector on August 19.
While two terrorists have been neutralised, officials said the operation to neutralise one more remaining terrorist is still underway.
The Army and Police jointly initiated the operation in the early hours, and the first contact with the terrorists was established at around 12. PM, leading to a fierce encounter, the officials added.
“Two terrorists were neutralised in the ongoing operation at Khandara by troops of the Rising Star Corps. Operations in progress,” the Army said in a post on X.
In a related development, Pakistani border troops violated the ceasefire agreement on Wednesday, resulting in an injury to one BSF jawan.
After the recent pact between the two countries on February 25, 2021, ceasefire violations have become rare.
Wednesday’s ceasefire violation comes days before the first phase of the Assembly polls scheduled for September 18.
Meanwhile, strict security measures have been implemented to ensure the smooth and incident-free conduct of the assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir.
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