Rajouri News: A gunfight broke out between security forces and terrorists in the Lathi-Dardiya area in Khawas tehsil of Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri district on the intervening night of Wednesday and Thursday after troops launched a cordon and search operation in response to a suspected militant movement. As per officials, two to three terrorists are believed to be trapped in the area.
A search operation was launched in the general area of village Kheri Mohra Lathi and Danthal at 9:30 pm on Wednesday after inputs were received about suspected terrorist movement, according to news agency PTI.
"During the search operation, at around 11:45 pm, a contact was established with terrorists, leading to an exchange of fire between the militants and security forces near Kheri Mohra area," a police spokesperson said.
"Security forces also fired a few shots of tracer rounds to illuminate the area... Two to three terrorists are holed up in the cordon area," the spokesperson added. Meanwhile, additional forces have been rushed to the area to strengthen the cordon and the operation.
This comes after a group of Village Defence Guards (VDGs) noticed two unidentified persons near a house in Meira-Nagrota village in Rajouri district on Monday night, and fired into the air. Following this, a search operation was initiated by security forces in the area.
Furthermore, two other encounters are also underway at different locations in Jammu and Kashmir. As per a report by India Today, while one encounter is underway in the Tangdhar sector in the Union Territory's Kupwara district, the other is in Kupwara's Machhal sector.
As per the report, in Tangdhar, the security forces launched a massive operation after terrorists were sighted on Wednesday night. Operation in the Machhal sector was launched when the alert troops of 57 Rashtriya Rifles (RR) spotted two to three terrorists in the area.