Foreign Militant Killed, Three Trapped in Encounter in Udhampur’s Basantgarh

SRINAGAR: A foreign militant affiliated with Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) was killed and three of his associates were believed to be trapped on Thursday in a fierce gunfight with security forces in the dense forests of Bihali in the Basantgarh belt of Udhampur district, intensifying an ongoing counter-militancy push in the region just days before the annual Amarnath Yatra is set to begin.

The operation—launched early Thursday morning after intelligence agencies received specific inputs on the presence of a heavily armed four-member group—was still underway at the time of filing this report. Officials said that the group, all foreign nationals believed to be Pakistani, had been operating in the area for nearly a year, frequently shifting locations to evade capture using the rugged terrain of Kathua, Doda, and Kishtwar.

“This is not a one-off encounter but part of a much larger and persistent pursuit,” a senior security official told the media. “Two groups of militants have been under surveillance in this sector for several months. This time, we made contact.”

The body of one slain militant, identified by intelligence sources as “Haider”, code-named Maulvi and suspected to be a Pakistani national, was recovered from the site near Karoor nullah. Security officials suspect that the remaining three, also part of JeM, are trapped in the forested zone, though heavy fog and intermittent rain have slowed the combing operations.

The encounter site lies along a traditional infiltration route used by Pakistan-based militant groups who enter via the International Border in Kathua, then traverse through the higher reaches of the Jammu region before entering Kashmir. The latest operation—spearheaded by Army’s Para commandos, the Jammu and Kashmir Police’s Special Operations Group (SOG), and CRPF—is one of several that have taken place in the Basantgarh-Ramnagar belt over the past year.

“This area is being consistently used as a transit and hideout route by foreign terrorist. We’ve lost some of our best men in the past 14 months here,” another security source said, citing the deaths of an elite Para Commando, a CRPF Inspector, and a Village Defence Guard (VDG) in earlier engagements.

The Inspector General of Police (Jammu zone), Bhim Sen Tuti, confirmed that contact was established with the militants at around 8.30 am on Thursday. “They are believed to be four in number and we have been tracking this group for the last year,” Tuti said, adding that the real picture will emerge once visibility improves.

The Nagrota-based White Knight Corps also posted updates on X, saying: “Based on specific intelligence, a joint operation was launched by the Indian Army and the Jammu and Kashmir Police in the Bihali area of Basantgarh. Contact has been established with terrorists. The operation is in progress.”

With the Amarnath Yatra beginning on July 3, security across Jammu and Kashmir is already on heightened alert. The pilgrimage, which saw over five lakh devotees last year, passes through Udhampur along the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway, and the latest encounter has raised concerns about possible attempts to disrupt it.

Officials said five overground workers (OGWs) had been arrested in the Basantgarh region over the past several months for facilitating movement and shelter for militants. One returning local militant is also under suspicion of actively helping the JeM group with logistics and guidance in the forests.

Despite adverse weather and dense terrain, drone surveillance, sniffer dogs, and additional troops have been deployed to tighten the cordon and prevent the trapped militants from slipping away, something they have managed in past encounters.

The Basantgarh region has seen a surge in such operations. On April 25, Havaldar Jhantu Ali Shaikh of 6 PARA was killed in a similar encounter. Earlier, on April 9, another face-off with militants occurred in the Jopher-Marta belt. The militants had also carried out a foiled attack on the Sang police post in July 2024, and a CRPF officer and a VDG were killed in separate incidents last year.

As security forces maintain their vigil across the upper reaches of Udhampur, officials say the ongoing encounter at Bihali is part of a larger offensive aimed at clearing the region of long-entrenched foreign militants. “This group has operated too long under the cover of fog, forests, and fear. That is changing now,” a senior Army officer remarked.