JAMMU: Seven security personnel have reportedly been injured in a gunbattle with terrorists that broke out in the remote forested area in the upper reaches of Kishtwar district of Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday and three of them have been airlifted, officials said.“Acting on a tip-off about the presence of two to three terrorists in the forest area, a cordon and search operation was launched at village Son Nar near Mandral-Singpora in Chatroo of Kishtwar around noon,” they said. “Terrorists fired at the search party and the troops retaliated.”Reinforcements have been deployed to neutralise the terrorists. The operation, which the Army’s Jammu-based White Knight Corps has named “Operation Trashi-I”, began around noon, they said.In a post on X, the White Knight Corps said the security forces came in contact with the terrorists in the general area Sonnar, northeast of Chatroo, during a search operation as part of ongoing joint counter-terror exercises along with police.The troops retaliated and reinforcements from Army, CRPF and police were rushed to further tighten the cordon. There was intermittent firing between the two sides for some time, the officials said. Drones and helicopters have been pressed into service, they said.This is the third encounter between security forces and terrorists in Jammu region in 2026.Earlier, two encounters were reported in Kamadh and Najote forests in Billawar area of Kathua district, on Jan 7 and 13.
