Encounter breaks out in Kishtwar, 2 terrorists believed to be holed up: Police

The militants are believed to be Pakistani nationals, sources said.

The Army’s White Knight Corps confirmed the encounter in a post on X. It said that while carrying out an intelligence-based operation, the troops established contact with terrorists in the early hours on Sunday and exchanged gunfire.

“Alert Indian Army troops while carrying out an intelligence based operation have established contact with terrorists in the general area of Dul in Kishtwar in the early hours of 10 Aug 2025. Gunfire exchanged. Operation under progress,” the statement said.

Ahead of Independence Day celebrations, the Jammu and Kashmir Police and security forces have been carrying out multiple operations. In recent days, they also searched over three dozen houses belonging to militants, who are presently in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, or overground workers (OGW) of terrorist groups, sources said.

Police sources said that in a major clampdown in Kishtwar district on Saturday, multiple police teams simultaneously conducted raids at 26 houses of terrorists including that of a Hizbul Mujahideen commander, Mohammad Amin Bhat, alias Jehangir Saroori — one of the longest surviving terrorists in J-K.

The latest encounter also comes amid an ongoing anti-terror operation in south Kashmir’s Kulgam, which began on August 1 and is one of the longest such operations in the Valley in recent years. Two soldiers and one terrorist have been killed in gunfights over the course of the encounter in the forests surrounding the Akhal area of Kulgam.