Jammu and Kashmir: Encounter underway between terrorists, security forces at Kulgam

An encounter broke out on Friday between terrorists and security forces at the Akhal area of Kulgam in South Kashmir, officials said.

The operation is being carried out by a Special Operations Group (SOG) from the Jammu and Kashmir Police, in collaboration with the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and the Indian Army.

The officials added that the 2-3 terrorists engaged in the gunfight were believed to be foreigners.

The encounter followed a security cordon and search operation in Akhal—which is a forested region—based on specific intelligence inputs about the presence of terrorists there, a police official said, as per a PTI report. He also explained that the terrorists retaliated when they were discovered, leading to the gunfight.

The official added that the cordon was being strengthened and additional reinforcements were sent to the area. 

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Friday's encounter follows India's 'Operation Shivshakti' earlier this week, when security forces killed two terrorists at Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district. According to an X statement from the Indian Army's White Knight Corps, the operation had foiled the terrorists' attempt to "infiltrate across the Line of Control".

"Swift action and accurate firepower thwarted the nefarious designs. Three weapons have been recovered. Synergistic and synchronised intelligence inputs from own intelligence units and #JKP led to a successful operation," the statement added.

This week also saw Operation Mahadev carried out on Monday, in which three Pakistani terrorists were killed in the Dachigam forest area near Srinagar. The terrorists involved were said to be linked to The Resistance Front (TRF), a proxy of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT)—a terrorist organisation that had claimed responsibility for the devastating Pahalgam attack of April 22, which left 26 people dead. 

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As described in detail later on at the Monsoon session of the Parliament, the Dachigam operation began after a July 11 intercept of a suspicious communication in the Harwan area. After 17 days of intensive search and surveillance, a joint team of the 24 Rashtriya Rifles and 4 Para Commandos located and neutralised the terrorists at around 11:30 AM on Monday.

It was also clarified in the session that the three terrorists were directly involved in the Pahalgam tragedy, and that one of them (Suleiman Shah) had been the mastermind of the April 22 terror attack.