JAMMU, Nov 5: An Agniveer para commando was injured in a gun battle between security forces and terrorists in Chhatru area of Kishtwar district this morning.Reports received here said the encounter took place when security forces conducting search operations in Kalaban forest area of Nadigam in Chhatru established contact with terrorists, numbering two to three. The gun battle lasted some time in which Agniveer para commando Kapil Kumar was injured.Injured, who hailed from Fatehpur in Uttar Pradesh, has sustained gunshot wound. He was evacuated to the Command Hospital in Udhampur where his condition is stated to be stable.
Reinforcement of Army, paramilitary forces, police and SOG was rushed to the site of encounter. The search operations have been intensified in Chhatru and surrounding areas but the terrorists remained untraced when the reports last came in.
There have already been reports about presence of foreign terrorists in upper reaches of Doda and Kishtwar districts and contacts have been established with them by the security forces earlier also.
“In an intelligence-based operation, launched in coordination with the Jammu and Kashmir Police early this morning, alert troops of the White Knight Corps established contact with terrorists in the general area of Chhatru,” the White Knight Corps said in a post on X.
“The operation is in progress,” it said.
Security forces are continuously monitoring the movement of terrorists in the mountainous district, resulting in multiple encounters in the belt which borders Doda and Udhampur districts.
Kishtwar has seen six encounters in the past seven months as security forces continue their hunt for Pakistan-based terrorists hiding in these hills.
On September 21, a group of terrorists was engaged in a gunfight in the Chhatru area.
On September 13, two Army men, one of them a Junior Commissioned Officer, were martyred and two more injured in an encounter with terrorists in the Naidgram area of Chhatru.
Violent confrontations took place in Dul and Chhatru belts on August 11 and July 2, but the terrorists managed to escape.
On May 22, a soldier and two terrorists were killed in an encounter in the Singapore area of the Chhatru belt.
On April 12, three terrorists were killed in an encounter in the Kishtwar area, while the Army foiled an infiltration bid by terrorists along the LoC in the Akhnoor sector.
Meanwhile, security forces today launched a search operation following suspicious movement in the border areas of Poonch district.
The operation was launched by the Special Operations Group (SOG), Army and the CRPF following reports of movement of suspected persons in the Balakote-Mendhar border areas.
The security forces are on high alert and locals have been urged to share any information about suspicious movements in their areas.
On Tuesday, troops recovered a suspicious drone in the Sakhi Maidan border area of Mendhar.
