3 terrorists killed in 2 encounters in Jammu & Kashmir

Pointing out that contact with terrorists was established yesterday, it said that since then, terrorists had been prevented from breaking contact. “Following a calibrated and coordinated response, two terrorists have been successfully neutralised,” it said.

The operation highlighted seamless inter-agency coordination, tactical precision and high standards of professionalism, it said, adding: “We serve, We Protect!”

Sources said both terrorists had been holed up inside a cave since Tuesday evening. They tried to escape at night, but the security forces engaged them, forcing them to retreat inside the cave. Troops continued maintaining a cordon of the area throughout the night, and with the first light of the day, launched a final assault, blowing up the cave.

According to sources, the third terrorist was killed in Kishtwar’s Chhatru area, where security forces, the J&K Police and the CRPF launched Operation Trashi-1 18 days ago in search of at least three terrorists owing allegiance to the Jaish-e-Mohammad.

On January 18, an Army Havildar was killed and seven soldiers were injured when terrorists, taking positions at a height in dense forests, opened fire on approaching search parties and fled.

Later, the security forces smashed their meticulously built underground hideout and seized a huge quantity of ration stores.

Since then, the security forces have made contact with the absconding terrorists on three more occasions, but they managed to escape every time, taking advantage of dense forests and bad weather conditions. However, as the forces relentlessly continued looking for the terrorists in snow-clad mountain forests, they again re-established contact with them around 5.45 pm on Wednesday in the general area of Dichhar, Kishtwar.