An Army soldier injured during a gunfight with terrorists in the Chatroo area of Jammu and Kashmir’s Kishtwar district succumbed to his injuries on Monday, as security forces continued a large-scale counter-terror operation in the region.
The soldier, identified as Havildar Gajendra Singh of the Special Forces, was among eight Army personnel injured during initial firing exchanges with terrorists in Sonnar village. The encounter occurred during a joint counter-terror operation, code-named Operation TRASHI-I, involving the Army, Jammu and Kashmir Police and other security agencies.
The Nagrota-based White Knight Corps confirmed the casualty, stating that the soldier made the supreme sacrifice while executing a counter-terror operation in the Singpura area during the night of January 19. The Corps paid tribute to the soldier’s courage and valour, noting that he was injured while responding to hostile fire under challenging terrain and operational conditions.
The gunfight erupted during a Cordon and Search Operation launched following intelligence inputs about the presence of terrorists in the area. Officials said the terrorists triggered buried grenades and opened fire on the joint forces, leading to splinter injuries to several soldiers. Of the eight injured, three were airlifted to specialised medical facilities, while the remaining five were treated at a local hospital.
After a night-long halt due to difficult terrain, limited visibility and thick vegetation, security forces resumed the operation early Monday morning. Multiple teams of the Army, police and paramilitary forces have been deployed to comb the upper reaches of the forested area, with drones and sniffer dogs supporting the search while a tight security cordon has been maintained to prevent any escape.
Officials said two to three terrorists, believed to be affiliated with the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad, are suspected to be hiding in the area. As of noon on Monday, there was no fresh contact reported with the terrorists, though the operation remained ongoing.
The encounter site is located in a hilly and densely forested zone characterised by steep slopes and thick undergrowth, conditions that have repeatedly complicated counter-terror operations in the region. Officials said the operation had been temporarily suspended late on Sunday evening due to these challenges before resuming with the first light.
This encounter marks the third such incident involving security forces and terrorists in the Jammu region this year. Earlier encounters were reported in the Kahog and Najote forests in the Billawar area of Kathua district on January 7 and January 13, respectively. On December 15 last year, a police officer was killed in an encounter at Soan village in the Majalta area of Udhampur district, while the terrorists managed to flee.
Security agencies have intensified operations across the hilly districts of the Jammu division, including Kathua, Poonch, Rajouri, Kishtwar, Doda, Udhampur and Reasi, following intelligence inputs about terrorist movement in these forested mountain belts. Joint forces have engaged terrorists multiple times in recent months, though suspects have often managed to escape under cover of darkness and difficult terrain.
The renewed push comes amid heightened security measures ahead of Republic Day, with officials citing inputs about attempts by Pakistan-based handlers to infiltrate terrorists into the region. A high-level security review meeting on Jammu and Kashmir, chaired by the Union Home Minister earlier this month, discussed the situation in the Jammu division in detail and emphasised coordinated, sustained and intelligence-driven operations.
Security forces remain on high alert along the Line of Control and the International Border, while search operations continue in the interior forest areas to neutralise remaining threats and prevent further infiltration.
