Jammu: A renewed gunfight broke out overnight in the Panjtirthi area of Kathua district, Jammu and Kashmir, involving security forces and terrorists. Officials indicated that three terrorists are engaged in the current clash, part of a group of five previously involved in an earlier encounter, during which two terrorists were killed.
The ongoing confrontation is taking place in the mountainous region between Ghati and Billawar areas of Kathua district. Security forces are utilizing aerial surveillance and sniffer dogs to navigate the forests and higher terrains of Ghati in the Rajbagh area.
Additionally, a separate search operation has been launched in the Samba sector near the International Border to secure the area.
Reports indicate that three suspected terrorists entered a house in Rui village, located a few kilometers from the previous encounter site at Safiyan Jakhole. An elderly woman residing alone recounted that the men came asking for water, after which she feared for her safety and withdrew to another room. Before leaving, the suspects reportedly took rotis (flatbread) and sabzi (vegetable) from her kitchen and even attempted to give her money, which she refused.
This incident led security forces to establish a night cordon around the area. Officials noted that terrorists find it difficult to operate without support from overground workers (OGWs) who provide food, shelter, and escape routes. As part of the investigation, security forces have detained six individuals, including women from a family suspected of aiding the terrorists.
These women are reportedly related to Mohammad Latief, an OGW currently imprisoned under the Public Safety Act (PSA) for his involvement in a previous terrorist attack in Malhar that killed five soldiers last year. It is believed that Abu Tala, one of the deceased terrorists, was sheltered in Latief’s house.
In their efforts to track the terrorist group, security forces have questioned more than two dozen individuals regarding suspicious activities in the area. Police have also been tracing the movement of the group after intercepting them on March 23 in a ‘dhok’ (temporary shelter) within a nursery in Sanyal village near the International Border with Pakistan. This investigation led to the previous encounter at Safiyan Jakhole, which resulted in the death of two terrorists and four police officers last Thursday.
