Gunfight breaks out in J&K’s Kathua district

A gunfight broke out between security forces and terrorists in J&K’s Kathua district on Sunday, officials said.

Official sources said that joint forces started a CASO (Cordon & Search Operation) in Sanyal village near the international border in the Hiranagar sector of Kathua district today following suspicious movement of persons there.

"As the joint forces including the army, the Special Operations Group (SOG) of the J&K Police and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) closed on hiding terrorists, they were fired at, triggering an encounter, which is now underway," a source said.

The same source said four to five terrorists could be holed up inside the cordon laid by the security forces and reinforcements have been rushed to the area to plug all the exit points.

The international border between India and Pakistan is situated in the district and in the past also, terrorists have attempted to sneak into the Indian side over the border.

Recently in Kathua, three civilians - Darshan Singh, 40, Yogesh Singh, 32, and Varun Singh, 14, - went missing on March 5 while returning from a wedding in Marhoon village.

Their bodies were discovered on March 8 near a waterfall on the edge of an escarpment in a wooded area following an extensive search involving the Army, police, drones, and sniffer dogs.

"The brutal killing of three relatives by terrorists in Bani area of Kathua is extremely sad as well as a matter of great concern," Union Minister Jitendra Singh said in a post on X.

In wake of the incident, Union Home Secretary, Govind Mohan came to Jammu on March 9 and chaired a high-level security meeting regarding safe and peaceful Amarnath Yatra beginning on July 3 and the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL) which is shortly being inaugurated.

The Home Secretary laid emphasis on the security situation in the Jammu division while giving detailed directions on the overall security situation in J&K.

Initially confined to Poonch and Rajouri districts, terrorist activities have spread to other areas of Jammu, including those that were relatively free from such incidents until a few years ago like the Chenab Valley, which was declared militancy-free and Udhampur and Kathua.

In the past, highly trained terrorists have been ambushing vehicles and using grenades and armour-piercing bullets, as well as M4 assault rifles. Sources say the use of sophisticated weapons by terrorists indicates a significant escalation in the threat level. Analysts say that over the last couple of years, the Pir Panjal region dividing Kashmir Valley from Jammu has witnessed a surge in militancy as anti-terror operations in Kashmir have pushed terrorists to the mountains where they hide and wait for the right moment to carry out attacks on security forces.