A fierce encounter erupted early Thursday morning between security forces and suspected Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) militants in the Singhpora area of Chatroo, in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kishtwar district.
According to police sources, a group of three to four JeM terrorists is believed to be holed up following a joint cordon-and-search operation launched by the Jammu and Kashmir Police, the Indian Army, and paramilitary forces. The operation was initiated based on specific intelligence inputs gathered by the local police.
Officials suspect the trapped militants may belong to the same group that recently evaded capture during an earlier encounter in the region.
This gunfight comes in the wake of heightened counter-insurgency efforts across Jammu and Kashmir. Earlier this month, six terrorists, including three JeM operatives, were neutralized in two separate operations conducted by security forces in the Valley.
Tensions remain high in the region following last month’s terror attack in Pahalgam, which claimed the lives of 26 civilians. The deadly assault led India to carry out targeted strikes on terror infrastructure across the border in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), further escalating tensions between the two nations. A temporary pause in cross-border military action was later declared.
The ongoing encounter in Kishtwar underscores the continuing volatility in the region and the intensified crackdown on militant networks.
