Kishtwar encounter ends 2-year pursuit of 7 Jaish infiltrators from Pakistan: Officers

The killing of three Pakistani terrorists, including Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) commander Saifullah, by security forces in Kishtwar district’s Chatroo area Sunday marked the culmination of the anti-terror operation codenamed Trashi that lasted nearly two years — and targeted seven JeM terrorists who had crossed the border into J&K in April 2024, senior officers said. They also described the operation as the longest such security action of its kind across three decades of militancy in J&K that focused on a specific group of targets within one geographical area. The operation employed all available resources — from troops working on the ground to sniffer dogs and drones in a “joint and integrated” manner involving the Army, J&K Police and CRPF, the officers said. With their elimination, J&K Police IGP (Jammu zone) Bhim Sen Tuti said all the seven terrorists who had crossed over into Kishtwar from Pakistan “have been neutralised”. Describing them as “hardcore terrorists”, also known as “Azrael Group” among the local population, Tuti said they had been engaged by security forces, police and CRPF on at least on 17 occasions earlier — and had inflicted significant damage on security forces and civilians. Official sources told The Indian Express that the anti-terror operation’s name refers to a village where Army’s Counter Insurgency Force (CIF) Delta has a camp. They also attributed the Azrael reference to the local population referring to the terrorists as “Angels of Death”. Three members of the group were killed in April 2025 during earlier phases of Operation Trashi. However, the search for the remaining four terrorists continued in the difficult terrain of the area, Tuti said. Based on intelligence inputs from the police, the Intelligence Bureau and other agencies, the second leg of the joint operation, codenamed Operation Trashi-I, was launched on January 14 this year in the Chatroo area, officers said. Contact with the terrorists was re-established on multiple occasions from January 18 onwards, but they managed to escape after brief encounters, they said. Their hideout was later busted and large quantities of ration and other materials were seized, officers said. The sustained pursuit led to the elimination of another terrorist, codenamed Adil, on February 4. Following fresh inputs received from the Kishtwar Police, on February 21, security forces launched a final operation that culminated in the killing of the remaining three terrorists the next day, they said. Except for Tyson, an Army sniffer dog that initiated the operation and faced the first bullet fired by the terrorists, there were no casualties or injuries on the side of the Army, police or CRPF, according to Major General A P S Bal, General Officer Commanding (GOC) of CIF Delta. Describing Operation Trashi as a “perfect example of seamless coordination at all levels”, Major General Bal said, “All the resources available to all of us, from a dog to a drone, were employed in a just and integrated manner, and the success today is a reflection of the strength of unity of our efforts.” Referring to the terrorists repeatedly managing to evade contact, he said, “We did not lose heart as we had clarity of thought and kept on planning and preparing for the operation… Every day, we would go back to the drawing board. We would reorient, realign and redeploy ourselves.” He said that intelligence inputs from various agencies were constantly analysed, corroborated and acted upon. Highlighting the challenges involved, Major General Bal said that during winter, when snow levels reached three to four feet, forces were deployed on mountain tops to monitor vast areas and respond quickly to intelligence inputs. However, the difficult terrain often meant that it took six to seven hours to reach a specific location, by which time the terrorists would escape. The operation, which confined the terrorists to a relatively small area, involved high tactical precision, real-time drone surveillance, night-vision equipment and the swift mobilisation of reinforcements, including special forces, amid harsh weather conditions. “We were conscious of the fact that such a prolonged operation can lead to fatigue among the troops. Therefore, we planned it in a manner that ensured adequate rotation of forces,” he said. “We always maintained sufficient reserves — either to be air-dropped by helicopters or to move on foot across extremely difficult terrain. Sometimes it would take six to eight hours to reach a location, but we ensured that we got there,” he said. Meanwhile, IGP Tuti said three AK rifles and other “war-like stores” or provisions were recovered from the terrorists killed on February 22. He reiterated that the fight against terrorism would continue until the entire ecosystem is dismantled. Pointing out that more operations are in the pipeline, Tuti said only three local militants are currently active in Kishtwar district. “These are the same three individuals who have been active in the region for nearly two decades,” he said. While some new recruits joined the militancy in 2018 and 2019, he said all of them have since been neutralised. Tuti also underlined the public support for security forces, stating that cooperation from the society played a crucial role in the success of counter-terror operations. “The society is not supporting them. Otherwise, such successful operations would not have been possible, as most of the intelligence inputs we receive come from civilians,” he said.