SFs launch search operation in Poonch
Jammu, Mar 23: A 7-year-old girl suffered minor injuries in exchange of fire between militants and security forces in Kathua district on Sunday, officials said.
They said the girl Anchal Kumari (7), daughter of Nago of Bihar at present ward no. 11 Hiranagar near Radha Swami Ashram got minor injury and was shifted to nearby hospital.
After the initial gunbattle, the terrorists managed to escape from the point of first contact and the search operations continued, which will be intensified tomorrow, officials said.
Earlier, an encounter erupted in Kathua’s Hiranagar after three terrorists were spotted by the security forces near the India-Pakistan border.
A massive search operation was launched by teams from the Special Operations Group of Jammu and Kashmir police, the Army and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) in the forest area near the international border at Hiranagar.
A fierce gunfight began after security forces intercepted a heavily armed group of terrorists in a densely forested area.
Gunshots could be heard in the backdrop of visuals from the forest area. There is heavy deployment of security personnel in border villages in Hiranagar in view of the encounter in the forest area.
Meanwhile, the Border Security Force (BSF) sounded a high alert all along the Pakistan border in Jammu, with forward posts put on maximum vigil as intelligence inputs suggested there may be more terrorists in groups and could be attempting infiltration.
Parts of Jammu and Kashmir have often witnessed tensions over terrorist infiltrations. Just last week, one terrorist was shot dead during a gunbattle with security forces in Kupwara.
Before that in February, an Army vehicle was attacked by terrorists in the Sunderbani area of Rajouri, and a cordon and search operation was launched.
According to data from Army officials, 75 terrorists were killed in Jammu and Kashmir in 2024 alone, 60 per cent of them from Pakistan.
These include 17 terrorists killed while attempting to infiltrate along the Line of Control (LoC) and International Border (IB), and 26 terrorists killed during encounters in interior areas.
Meanwhile, the Security forces have launched a joint search operation after some ‘suspicious movement’ was noticed in the general area of Sangla in Surankot, in Poonch district. The joint operation was launched by the Indian Army’s Romeo Forces along with the Poonch Police, according to the officials.
