J&K: Terror hideout busted in Poonch, arms cache recovered

Jammu, Aug 15 (IANS) Joint forces on Saturday busted a terror hideout in J&K’s Poonch district and recovered a large cache of arms and ammunition, averting a major tragedy. Officials said the operation was carried out in the Draba area of Surankote sector following specific inputs. A joint team comprising 16 Rashtriya Rifles (RR), the Special Operations Group (SOG) of J&K Police and the 38 Battalion of CRPF launched the search. During the operation, forces recovered one gamla‐type IED, one gool‐type IED, four small IEDs, one Motorola wireless set and seven AK‐47 rounds. Search operations in the area are continuing, officials added. In recent operations in the district, joint forces including the Army and J&K Police’s SOG busted multiple militant hideouts in forested belts like Sawjian and Khanetar. Recoveries made during these operations included hundreds of live machine gun rounds (such as Pika and general‐purpose machine gun ammunition), improvised explosive devices (IEDs), hand grenades and AK‐series rifles. Troops patrolling near the Line of Control (LoC) in sectors like Balakote and Mendhar also seized smuggled narcotics alongside foreign‐origin pistols dropped across the border. In neighbouring Rajouri district, parallel operations have focused heavily on anti‐terror drives, emergency disaster rescue and heightened security checkpoints. A massive joint operation was launched by the Indian Army, J&K Police (SOG) and CRPF in the Gambhir Mughlan and Dorimal forests of the Manjakote sector following an encounter in the dense terrain. Troops deployed drones, helicopters and sniffer dogs to flush out suspected foreign terrorists hiding in natural caves. During search operations in the Chamrer forest area of Thanamandi division, Rashtriya Rifles troops busted another hideout and recovered a ready‐to‐use IED along with clothing and essential rations. In the Islampur Bhanghai area of Thanamandi, security forces intercepted a hidden logistics cache containing survival materials, blankets, gas stoves and food items meant to sustain hiding terrorists. Officials said these recoveries underline the continuing efforts of security forces to dismantle terror infrastructure and prevent attacks in the border districts of Poonch and Rajouri. --IANS sq/dan