Security forces and terrorists exchanged gunfire on Monday in the upper reaches of Udhampur district in Jammu and Kashmir. According to reports, several terrorists are believed to be hiding in the area, prompting intensified search operations.
Notably, in September this year, an encounter between security forces and terrorists in the Guddar forest area of Kulgam district left three Army personnel injured. Two of them later succumbed to their injuries at a hospital.
The coordinated operation, code-named Operation Guddar, was launched following specific intelligence inputs. During the encounter, two militants were killed, including a senior Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) commander of Pakistani origin. The body of the slain LeT militant, identified as Rehman Bhai, was recovered from the Guddar forest region.
The firefight occurred during a joint search operation conducted by the Indian Army, the Jammu and Kashmir Police, and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF). Three soldiers were injured in the exchange of fire, two of whom later died despite medical treatment.
In a separate operation in October, security forces eliminated six militants in Jammu and Kashmir during Operation Akhal, one of the largest anti-terror campaigns in the region this year.
Sources told India Today that the militants killed in the October operation were affiliated with The Resistance Front (TRF), a proxy group of the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba. The group had claimed responsibility for the Pahalgam attack that killed 26 civilians.
