Jammu, Feb 22 (IANS) Three terrorists, including a top commander of the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) terror outfit, were killed in a joint operation by the security forces in J&K’s Kishtwar district on Sunday, officials said.

“THIRD TERRORIST KILLED | UPDATE In continued operations under #OpTrashi-I in Kishtwar, troops of CIF (D) #WhiteKnightCorps, in coordination with @JmuKmrPolice and #CRPF, have neutralised the third terrorist”, the Army’s Nagrota-headquartered White Knight Corps said on X.

“The remains and the weapon of the terrorist have been recovered. The pursuit continues – no space, no sanctuary for those who seek to undermine stability. We Serve, We Protect”, it added.

An official said that top JeM commander, identified as Saifullah, was among the three terrorists killed today during the gunfight with a joint team of J&K Police, the Army, and the CRPF.

Intelligence agencies have described the killing of Saifullah as a major success in the anti-terrorist operations in the Jammu division.

In an earlier post on X, the White Knight Corps had reported that two terrorists were killed in Operation Trashi-1. It said that “pursuant to credible intelligence inputs collated from #JKP, #IB and own intelligence sources, a deliberate joint operation was launched in the Kishtwar region under Operation Trashi-I to track and neutralise terrorists operating in the area”.

“Following successful contact established earlier, troops of CIF Delta #WhiteKnightCorps, in close coordination with @JmuKmrPolice and #CRPF, re-engaged the terrorists today at approximately 11:00 AM in challenging terrain. Displaying tactical precision, seamless synergy and resolute aggression, troops dominated the encounter site wherein two terrorists have been successfully neutralised. War-like stores including 02 x AK-47 rifles have also been recovered,” it had said.

This is the second encounter in this area this month. Earlier, a gunfight broke out in the same densely forested area on February 4.

More than a dozen encounters have taken place during the last year between the security forces and the terrorists in the Chatroo area of Kishtwar.

It is believed that the group of foreign terrorists had been operating in the area, who kept on changing locations between the Kishtwar, Doda, and Udhampur districts.

The Army, J&K Police and the CRPF are on a hot chase of this group of Pakistani terrorists, and it is precisely because of the intense trail that the group is moving from one place to another instead of trying to attack the security forces.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah has given clear orders for neutralisation of Pakistani terrorists in the hilly districts of the Jammu division.

The Union Home Minister called for a mission-mode approach to usher in complete peace in the union territory during his last visit to Jammu on February 7.

–IANS