Police said a Pakistani terrorist of the Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) outfit was killed in the ongoing operation in the Billawar area of Kathua district.

On Saturday, a head constable of local police was killed while a deputy superintendent of police (Deputy SP) and an assistant sub-inspector (ASI) were injured in the firing exchanges with the terrorists in the area.

Anand Jain, ADGP (Jammu) told reporters on Sunday that a head constable of police was killed while a deputy superintendent of police (Deputy SP) and an assistant sub-inspector (ASI), were injured in the encounter between the security forces and the terrorists in Billawar area of Kathua district on Saturday.

The ADGP said, “A massive search operation is on in Kathua forests to track down the terrorists. A joint operation was launched yesterday in the Khog area of Billawar in the Kathua district. In the exchange of fire, Head Constable Bashir Ahmed was killed while an ASI and a Deputy SP were injured but are stable now.”

“There are inputs about three to four terrorists hiding in the area. The inputs indicate that they are foreign terrorists,” he added.

Asked about the effect of this ongoing operation against terrorists in Kathua and adjoining districts, where voting is being held on October 1, the senior police officer said police and other forces will ensure smooth elections for the third phase.

It must be mentioned that terrorists believed to be hardcore foreign mercenaries, have been carrying out hit-and-run attacks against the Army, local police and civilians in the hilly districts of Doda, Kathua, Rajouri, Poonch and Reasi of Jammu division during the last three to four months.

After carrying out ambushes against the Army and others in the hilly areas, the terrorists would escape into the densely foliaged and forested areas of these hilly districts.

To thwart this tactics of the terrorists, over 4000 soldiers drawn from the elite Para Commandos and those trained in mountain warfare were deployed in the mountain tops and densely forested areas of the Jammu division. After this revised strategy by the security forces, terrorist attacks in these districts have drastically come down.

With their ubiquitous presence in these areas, the security forces have been able to establish contact (engage terrorists in gunfights) in these areas.

Five terrorists have been killed so far after the security forces revisited their strategy to meet the challenge posed by the foreign mercenaries.