Encounter erupts in Kathua as forces spot group of ultras

An encounter broke out on Sunday evening between a group of terrorists and security forces in Jammu’s Kathua district, officials said.

A seven-year-old girl sustained minor injuries during the encounter, according to officials. They said she was stable and under observation at a hospital in Hiranagar.

Army’s Rising Star Corps said that based on Intelligence inputs, a joint operation was launched along with the police in the Saniyal area of Hiranagar. According to police sources, the Intelligence inputs had indicated that a group of terrorists was hiding in a forest between the national highway and the India-Pakistan border.

During the search operation, the security personnel came under fire from the militants, triggering the encounter.

“The encounter is underway,” a police official told The Tribune in the evening. Following the exchange of fire, additional reinforcements were dispatched to the area. Late on Sunday evening, Jammu and Kashmir Police chief DGP Nalin Prabhat also arrived in Hiranagar to oversee the situation. It is for the first time in the recent past that the J&K police chief had joined the forces on the ground at the operation site.

The encounter comes amid intensified anti-terror operations in the Jammu region as forces aim to eliminate militancy. In recent times, the region has seen a rise in militancy, with terrorist activity spreading beyond the mountains of Poonch and Rajouri to the Chenab region and the plains of Kathua, which borders Punjab. Officials recently said that around 60 foreign terrorists were currently active in J&K, with the majority 35 belonging to Lashkar-e-Taiba.