Srinagar

Days after a fierce encounter claimed the lives of four policemen and left two militants dead in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kathua district, security forces launched a fresh cordon-and-search operation (CASO) on Monday afternoon following reports of suspicious movement in the Panjtirthi area of Juthana village.

Reinforcements from the Indian Army, Jammu and Kashmir Police’s Special Operations Group (SOG), the National Security Guard (NSG), the Border Security Force (BSF), and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) were rushed to the site. Officials said helicopters, drones, bulletproof vehicles, and sniffer dogs are supporting the operation.

According to security officials, the anti-militancy operation was launched after intelligence inputs were received about the presence of militants in the region. "A brief exchange of fire also took place between security forces and the holed-up militants as the search intensified late Monday evening," an official, who did not wish to be named, said.

While the exact number of holed up militants remains unknown, security officials suspect they may be affiliated with the Pakistan-based militant outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM). Officials believe "the suspects could be the same group that managed to flee from Saniyal village during the earlier encounter."

Although the militants managed to escape at that time, they left behind a cache of arms, including magazines of US-made M4 carbines. The second encounter took place on March 29, resulting in a fierce gunfight that claimed the lives of four police personnel and left several others injured. Two militants were killed in that operation, and security forces recovered a cache of arms and ammunition from the site.

This latest exchange of fire marks the third major anti-militancy operation in Kathua in the past nine days. The first encounter occurred on March 23, when security forces made initial contact with suspected JeM militants in Saniyal village, located in the Hiranagar sector near the international border.

The Indian Army, in a post on X (formerly Twitter), confirmed the elimination of two militants and the recovery of “war-like stores” following the March 29 operation.

Relentless operations since March 27, 2025, have led to the elimination of two terrorists and the recovery of war-like stores. The operation continues," the Army’s Rising Star Corps said in the post.

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