A fresh gunfight erupted between security forces and terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kathua district on Monday night, sources said.

It came days after a total of four policemen and two militants were killed in a 48-hour-long operation that saw militants hiding in an undulating and forested area of Safian on Thursday.

Defence sources informed CNN-News18 that the terrorists involved in Monday’s encounter are part of the same group, some of whose members escaped during Thursday’s gunfight.

The firefight erupted near Juthana village under the Rajbagh police station area on Thursday morning after security forces came under heavy fire during a search operation for a group of terrorists who had escaped following a brief encounter near Sanyal village in the Hiranagar sector on Sunday.

The Sufain forests, where the clash occurred, are located about 35 km from Sanyal village.

People’s Anti-Fascist Front (PAFF), an offshoot of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), claimed responsibility for the encounter and killings of the security personnel.

J&K LLt. GovernorManoj Sinha and CM Omar Abdullah paid tributes to the slain policemen. “I bow to the valorous martyrs of J&K Police, who laid down their lives for our motherland. My deepest condolences to their families," the LG said in a post on X.

Extending his condolences to the grieving families, CM Omar said in his X post: “Pride and grief intertwine as we remember Balwinder Singh Chib, Jaswant Singh and Tariq Ahmed, who laid down their lives during an anti-terror operation in Kathua."
 

On Friday, security forces launched a massive joint search operation in the Reasi district of Jammu following reports of suspected movement in a forested area.

In a separate incident, an IED was successfully defused in the Ramsoo area of Rthe amban district.