Jammu, July 20 (IANS) A gunfight started on Sunday between the security forces and the terrorists in J&K’s Kishtwar district.

Officials said that an encounter started between the security forces and the terrorists during a CASO (Cordon & Search Operation) in the Khankoo forest area of Kishtwar district.

“The encounter started during a CASO launched by the army and police in the Khankoo forest, located between Dachhan and Nagseni, following intelligence inputs about the presence of terrorists in the area,” the official said.

He said that as the security forces closed in on the hiding terrorists, the terrorists fired, triggering an encounter which lasted for a short duration.

“Additional reinforcements have been rushed to the area. The search operation is ongoing to track the terrorists,” officials said.

Meanwhile, Nagrota headquartered White Knight corps of the army said on X, “Based on specific inputs, an operation was launched by the Indian Army in the Hadal Gal area of Kishtwar Sector. Contact has been established with terrorists. The operation is currently in progress.”

Security forces have been carrying on aggressive operations against the terrorists, their Over Ground Workers (OGWs) and their sympathisers to dismantle the entire ecosystem of terror in J&K.

The aggressive pursuit of the terrorists started after the April 22 attack on civilians by Pakistan-backed Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) terrorists in Baisaran meadow of Pahalgam.

Twenty-six civilians, including 25 tourists and a local, were killed in that terrorist attack.

The attack outraged the entire country. The Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, gave a free hand to the armed forces to avenge the Pahalgam terror attack.

Operation Sindoor was launched by the armed forces in which terror infrastructure was destroyed by carrying out attacks deep inside Pakistan, including Muridke near Lahore, Bahawalpur and Kotli, and Muzaffarabad in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

Nine terror infrastructures were destroyed in the attack, and in a subsequent escalation, facilities of the Pakistan army were destroyed.

–IANS

sq/dan