Pakistani Jaish militant killed in Kathua gunfight in Jammu and Kashmir

The militant, identified by police as Usman, was killed on Friday during a coordinated operation involving the Indian Army, the Central Reserve Police Force and the Jammu and Kashmir Police. Officials said the operation was launched after receiving specific information about the presence of a Jaish-e-Mohammad operative in the area.

The Inspector General of Police for the Jammu range, Bhim Sen Tuti, confirmed the development in a statement posted on social media. “A Pakistani Jaish terrorist has been neutralised by a small Jammu and Kashmir Police team in a joint operation with the Army and the CRPF in the general area of Billawar, Kathua district,” he said.

Security officials said a search of the area led to the recovery of a large cache of weapons and ammunition from the militant. Among the items recovered was an M4 automatic rifle, which is typically used by well-trained fighters, according to officials familiar with the operation.

Authorities said the operation was carried out after the area was cordoned off to prevent the militant from escaping. Contact was established during the search, and the militant was killed in what officials described as a precise strike. Security forces continued combing operations in nearby areas to rule out the presence of additional militants.

The Kathua encounter comes amid heightened security activity across parts of the Jammu region following a series of recent clashes. Earlier this week, Indian security forces uncovered an underground hideout used by Jaish-e-Mohammad militants in the Kishtwar district. The hideout was located at an altitude of around 12,000 feet and was described by officials as well-fortified, with multiple entry and exit points.

According to officials, the hideout was stocked with food supplies, cooking gas, clarified butter, cereals and blankets, suggesting it had been designed to support militants for extended periods in harsh weather conditions. Security forces said the discovery pointed to long-term planning by militant groups operating in remote mountainous areas.

The ongoing operations are part of a wider security push known as Operation Trashi-I, aimed at tracking and neutralising Jaish-e-Mohammad militants active in the region. During earlier phases of the operation, a fierce gun battle in the Singpura area of Kishtwar led to the death of an Indian Army soldier, Havildar Gajendra Singh, while several others were injured.

On Thursday, a soldier was injured in another exchange of fire in the Chatroo area of Kishtwar after a brief lull of several days. A senior police officer said the injured soldier was airlifted to a military hospital in Udhampur for treatment. Additional reinforcements were subsequently deployed to the area to strengthen the search effort.

Officials believe that a small group of two to three Jaish-e-Mohammad militants may still be hiding in the forests of the Kishtwar region. Search operations have continued with the involvement of specialised units trained for counter-insurgency operations in difficult terrain.

Separately, security forces have also launched a cordon and search operation in the Akhnoor area of Jammu district after local residents reported suspicious movement near the international border. Police said the information was being verified and additional patrols had been deployed as a precaution.

According to police records, Thursday’s clash in Kishtwar marked the fourth encounter between security forces and militants in the Jammu region this year, with the Kathua gunfight being the fifth such incident.

Context

Jaish-e-Mohammad is a Pakistan-based armed group that has been blamed by India for several major attacks in the past, including high-profile assaults on security forces. India has repeatedly accused militant groups of attempting to infiltrate across the border into Jammu and Kashmir, a region that has seen decades of insurgency and counter-insurgency operations.

The Indian government maintains that sustained security operations are necessary to prevent militant networks from regrouping, particularly in remote and mountainous areas. Pakistan denies allegations that it supports or shelters such groups.

The latest encounter underscores the continuing security challenges in Jammu and Kashmir, even as Indian authorities say overall levels of violence have declined compared with previous years.