Jammu And Kashmir: Encounter Underway In Udhampur Forest Near Patnitop

In a statement, Army said, “Based on specific intelligence inputs, a joint operation by the Indian Army and J&K Police was launched in Akar Forest near Patnitop. Contact has been established with the terrorists and operations are in progress”.

Recently, Jammu and Kashmir has witnessed spike in terror activities with two encounters erupting just two days back on Sunday between security forces and militants in Kishtwar and Udhampur districts. While, the encounter in Kishtwar had no impact on the annual Machail Mata Yatra in the Paddar area, the adequate security arrangemnets were put in place for the safety of pilgrims visiting the shrine.

Besides, there was exchange of fire between security forces and militants in the forests of Basantgarh in Udhampur district on Sunday evening. A brief gunfight between the two sides had erupted inside Khaned forests, however there was no report of any casualty.

Meanwhile, the recent spike in terror activities has been mostly witnessed in the Jammu region. The militants have been able to carry out some of the deadly attacks in the region including in Reasi, Kathua and Doda.

The security forces have said the recent terror activities are an attempt by Pakistan to revive terrorism in the Jammu region.

Reportedly, over 70 people, including 52 security personnel have been killed in terror-related incidents in the Jammu region since 2021.

Meanwhile, suspicious movement was noted in south Kashmir's Anantnag district on Tuesday.

The anti-terror operation in Anantnag has entered the fourth day as search teams noticed some suspicious movement in the Ahlan Gagarmandu forest early Tuesday and opened "probing fire", PTI reported.

The report added there was no further firing from either side as the search operations continued.

It added additional security personnel were pressed into combing operations to flush out the militants hiding in the forest area.

V K Birdi, Inspector General of Police, Kashmir Zone, told PTI that the anti-terror operation was still going on in the region.

Three persons, including two soldiers, were killed in a fire exchange with militants in Anantnag on August 10, following which a massive manhunt has been launched in the Ahlan Gagarmandu forest area in the Kokernag belt to eliminate them.

The firefight started on Saturday evening during a cordon and search operation that was initiated by the security forces based on intelligence reports indicating the presence of militants in the remote forest.

According to officials, a group of militants, believed to be three to four in number opened fire at the joint search parties comprising Army personnel, including para commandos, and local police.