An encounter broke out between security forces and terrorists on Monday evening following a search operation in the forest area of Kalakote in Jammu and Kashmir’s Rajouri district, said the officials. Broh and Soom forest belt in the Kalakote area were cordoned off by the Army along with the police early on Monday following information about suspicious movement, they said, as per a PTI report. The search operation turned into an encounter after the terrorists hiding in the area opened fire on the forces in an attempt to break the cordon.
Security forces fired in retaliation and the crossfire between the two sides was underway, according to the report with no immediate report of any casualty.
Reinforcements have been rushed to the area to plug all possible escape routes, they said.
As per the report, gunshots were heard during the cordon and search operation earlier in the day but it was later clarified that the security forces fired the probing shots to check the presence of suspected terrorists.
Last month, an encounter between the security forces and terrorists lasted for seven days from September 13–19 in the Garol forest area in the Anantnag district. The operation was based on specific intelligence inputs regarding the presence of the terrorists.
The Army said that the first contact was established on September 13, which resulted in a firefight and a prolonged operation that continued until September 19. During the operation, two terrorists were killed, rifles, pistols and war-like stores were recovered.
Colonel Manpreet Singh, commanding officer of 19 Rashtriya Rifles, Major Ashish Dhonchak and Deputy Superintendent of Jammu and Kashmir Police Humayun Bhat lost their lives during the encounter.
On September 4, a terrorist was killed while a police personnel and army jawan were injured in an encounter in Jammu and Kashmir’s Raesi. The gunbattle ensued at Reasi on the basis of specific input regarding the presence of two terrorists.