Terrorist killed in Kashmir forest gunfight, search on for 1-2 more

A terrorist was killed on Friday in a joint operation by the Indian Army, Jammu and Kashmir Police, and the CRPF in the dense forests of Ashdar Gali in central Kashmir's Budgam district. The operation, launched on specific intelligence inputs, saw troops challenge suspicious movement, leading to an exchange of fire in which the militant was neutralised. An AK rifle and other war-like stores were recovered from the site.

The encounter comes a day after an initial brief gunfight in the same forested area, which lies above the popular Yusmarg tourist resort and connects Budgam to Poonch in the Jammu region. Following the first contact, security forces tightened the cordon and began a combing operation. During intensified searches, the trapped terrorists again opened fire while attempting to break the cordon, prompting the security forces to retaliate.

Intelligence inputs suggest that one to two more terrorists may still be hiding in the thickly forested terrain, which spans the Budgam-Poonch border. The search and combing operation has been extended to cover the area thoroughly.

This marks only the second gunfight between security forces and terrorists in the Valley this year. Earlier, on July 8, Lashkar-e-Toiba terrorist Zakir Ahmad Ganai was killed in a separate encounter in south Kashmir's Shopian district. According to police records, Ganai was one of only two active terrorists in the Valley at the time.