Security forces on high alert in Jammu after militants escape during encounter

PTI, Aug 17, 2022, 1:58 PM IST

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Jammu: Security forces and police have intensified the operation to track down terrorists, who managed to escape from the cordon after a brief gunfire encounter in Rajouri district, sources said.

Security forces had on Sunday located a group of 2-3 terrorists in the Sojan forest area of Samote in Rajouri and laid a siege to neutralise them, they said.

Terrorists fired on the security forces during a cordon and search operation (CASO) but managed to escape using heavy rains and bad weather conditions as cover, they said.

Forces have now intensified the operation to track down the terrorists, who may be trying to find new targets in the area, they said.

Security forces and police have been put on high alert in view of the movement of two suspected persons around Rajouri city, particularly around the security forces area on Tuesday, they said.

Agencies also spotted two suspected persons, including one carrying a bag, in CCTV footage, they said.

On August 11, two terrorists attacked an Army camp in Rajouri, killing four soldiers in a pre-dawn suicide strike that marked the return of ‘fidayeen’ to Jammu and Kashmir after more than three years.

Both the terrorists, believed to be from the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), were shot dead after an over four-hour gun battle.

On May 8, a terrorist was killed as the Army foiled an infiltration bid along the Line of Control (LoC) in the Laam area of Rajouri district. There were several blasts in the Rajouri district in April and May.

Police had busted two modules of the LeT instrumental in carrying out terror acts and ferrying drone-dropped weapons from Pakistan to the Kashmir valley. They arrested five members of two terror modules.