Operation Kiya: Encounter erupts in J&K’s Udhampur

Fresh encounter breaks out in J&K. (Generative image) JAMMU: A fierce encounter broke out between a joint team of security forces and a group of terrorists holed up in a remote, forested area in Basantgarh, in J&K’s Udhampur district, on Tuesday. The Army’s White Knight Corps, in a statement on X, said a cordon had been set up and “Operation Kiya” was in progress.Officials said at least two to three Pakistani terrorists were believed to be trapped within the cordon. The White Knight Corps post stated that a joint team of Counter Insurgency Force Delta, police, and CRPF established contact with the terrorists around 4pm.Earlier, security forces had launched a search operation in Jopher area in Udhampur’s Ramnagar late Sunday. Combing was also carried out in the surrounding Marta, Kulthian, Sohan, Kheal, and Chour Mottu areas on Monday. Counter-terrorism actions continued in Ramgarh’s forests and Kalas top in Rajouri district, and the upper reaches of Poonch, Kathua, Doda and Reasi districts to track and kill fleeing terrorists.Meanwhile, Operation Trashi-I — launched in the forested Chatroo belt of Kishtwar district on Jan 18 — entered its 17th day on Tuesday as troops continued trudging through knee-deep snow to trace hiding terrorists. White Knight Corps Commander had visited the district Monday to review the counter-terrorism grid and assess the operational preparedness of units deployed in the region.Under Operation Trashi-I, security forces have engaged in four encounters with terrorists in the past fortnight. Initial contact was established in Sonnar forest near Mandral-Singhpora, Chatroo, on Jan 18, in which eight security personnel were injured, one of whom eventually succumbed. On Jan 22, another gunfight broke out with holed-up ultras in Singhpora. Yet another firefight followed on Jan 24, in which a Pakistani Jaish terrorist was shot dead. A brief gun battle occurred in Dolgam on Jan 31.Mobile internet services (all bandwidths) have remained temporarily suspended within a 6km-radius covering Singhpora, Chingam, and Chatroo since Jan 30 as a security measure.

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