New Delhi: The Army has intensified operations in the Chhatru area of J&K’s Kishtwar district in search of two suspected Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) terrorists who ambushed a search party on Sunday, killing a soldier and injuring eight others.
Sources in the defence and security establishment said that based on a tip-off about a terrorist hideout, a search unit comprising soldiers from two Rashtriya Rifles units and a Para Special Forces (SF) unit entered the densely forested Chhatru area Sunday under Operation Trashi-I. The input was about a group of JeM terrorists operating in the area over the last two years or so.
The area, which is at a height of around 11,000 ft, is tough terrain due to heavy forest cover.
Sources said that as the group of soldiers was making its way up to the hideout, at least two terrorists lobbed grenades and opened fire from a height. The grenades are suspected to have been launched using an under-barrel launcher.
Eight soldiers were injured and one perished in the explosions. There was a brief exchange of fire with the remaining soldiers following which the terrorists retreated, sources said.
While the hideout was eventually busted by the soldiers who continued the operation Monday, the terrorists remain absconding.
It is suspected that one of the two terrorists is a Pakistani named Saifullah while the other is a local resident.
“The search operation has been intensified,” a source said.
Nearly 35 Pakistani terrorists are believed to be hiding in the dense forests of the mountainous Doda and Kishtwar districts in the Chenab Valley region.
The 16 Corps announced the death of Havildra Gajendra Singh, a Para Commando, in a post on X.
#WhiteKnightCorps | #Homage | #SupremeSacrifice
The #GOC, White Knight Corps and all ranks pay solemn tribute to Havildar Gajendra Singh of the Special Forces, who made the supreme sacrifice while gallantly executing a Counter Terrorism operation in the Singpura area during the… pic.twitter.com/XKUDTw9dxq
— White Knight Corps (@Whiteknight_IA) January 19, 2026
(Edited by Gitanjali Das)
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