Army troops exchange fire with terrorists in Kathua; search operation underway

Jammu, Jan 25 (PTI) Army troops exchanged fire with terrorists in the higher reaches of Jammu and Kashmir’s Kathua district in the early hours of Saturday, officials said, as a massive search operation is underway to trace out the ultras who fled after the initial fire-fight.

The alert sentry post of a temporary Army camp in Batod panchayat detected the movement of suspected terrorists at around 1:20 am and opened fire, the officials said.

They said the terrorists fired back and the intermittent exchange of fire continued between the two sides for nearly half an hour.

However, there was no casualty on either side, the officials said, adding that the terrorists, believed to be three in number, fled into a nearby forest.

They said the Army troops have launched a cordon-and-search operation to track down the terrorists and further details are awaited.