Daijiworld Media Network - Jammu
Jammu, Jan 22: After a pause of four days since the first exchange of fire, armed confrontation resumed on Thursday in Singhpora village of the Chatroo area in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kishtwar district, as joint security forces re-engaged terrorists believed to be hiding in the region.
According to officials, firing broke out early this morning when Army, police, and paramilitary personnel located the suspected militants during ongoing search operations. This comes after several days of silence following the initial clash on Sunday, in which one Army paratrooper lost his life and seven others sustained injuries.
“There is heavy and sustained firing underway in the area,” officials confirmed.
Over the past four days, multiple teams backed by drones and sniffer dogs have been carrying out extensive combing operations under a strict security cordon to prevent any escape routes. Security agencies believe that two to three terrorists, allegedly linked to the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), remain trapped in the area.
This latest gunfight is the fourth encounter between security forces and terrorists in the Jammu region so far this year.
The operation began on January 18 after specific intelligence inputs led joint forces to surround Singhpora village. During the subsequent cordon-and-search operation, terrorists opened fire on a small contingent of the forces, resulting in the fatality and injuries.
Despite continuous and heavily fortified operations, the militants managed to evade detection and remained dormant until they were traced again on Thursday.
Earlier this month, similar encounters were reported in the Kahog and Najote forest areas of Kathua district’s Billawar region on January 7 and 13. Additionally, on December 15 last year, a police officer was killed during an encounter at Soan village in the Majalta area of Udhampur district, where terrorists later escaped under the cover of darkness and dense vegetation.
These incidents followed a large-scale counter-terrorism drive launched in December across the forest belts of the Jammu region to flush out an estimated three dozen militants believed to be operating in the area.
Security operations have since been intensified ahead of Republic Day celebrations, amid intelligence warnings of renewed attempts by handlers across the border to infiltrate terrorists into the region.
Several hilly districts—Kathua, Poonch, Rajouri, Kishtwar, Doda, Udhampur, and Reasi—remain under heightened surveillance after reports indicated militant movement through the heavily forested mountainous terrain. Despite repeated engagements in districts such as Kathua and Udhampur, militants have often managed to slip away by exploiting terrain advantages and nightfall.
The security situation in these regions was extensively reviewed during a high-level meeting chaired by Union Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi on January 8. Clear directives were issued for coordinated, sustained, and intelligence-driven operations to neutralize terrorists and ensure zero infiltration along both the Line of Control (LoC) and the International Border (IB).
In Jammu and Kashmir, the LoC stretches approximately 740 kilometers and is guarded by the Army, while the 240-kilometer-long International Border is secured by the Border Security Force (BSF). The LoC runs through parts of Baramulla, Kupwara, Bandipora, and Jammu districts, whereas the IB lies across Samba, Kathua, and Jammu districts of the Jammu division.