Characterised by thick forest cover, the forests connecting Rajouri and Poonch districts previously witnessed militant attacks in which 10 security personnel were killed in two major attacks on April 20 and May 5, 2023.Army, police and paramilitary forces continued combing the forests of Rajouri and nearby Poonch for the eighth day Saturday, as search operations launched last week following reports of militant presence expanded to more areas.Codenamed Operation Sheruwali, the searches were launched in the Ghambir Mughalan forests of Rajouri on May 22 following intelligence reports but have now expanded to the forests of Surankote in Poonch, with security forces using sniffer dogs, drones and helicopters to target areas suspected to be militant hideouts. Officials said although security forces sighted some militants last Saturday, there had been “no contact with militants” since then.“The last time troops had contact with militants was last Saturday, but they managed to escape deeper inside the forests after a brief exchange of fire,” an official said. “The group appears to be well trained in jungle warfare in view of its strategy of continuously changing location so as to avoid contact with the search parties.”Officials believe 2-5 militants have been operating in the area between the Rajouri-BG-Surankote road (National Highway 144-A) and the Rajouri-Thanamandi-DKG-Buffliaz road for the last two-three years. “There are two groups — one hiding in forests in Rajouri and the other in Surankote in Poonch district. They appear to have come down to the lower heights of Pir Panjal to escape relentless search operations by the counter-insurgency Romeo Force in the forests of Sukhsar and Lalansar, adjoining the Kashmir Valley, over the last three months.”Characterised by thick forest cover, the forests connecting Rajouri and Poonch districts previously witnessed militant attacks in which 10 security personnel were killed in two major attacks on April 20 and May 5, 2023. According to officials, the contiguous forests, which span both Jammu and Kashmir, offer ideal cover and relatively easy access to Kashmir, allegedly aiding militants’ escape.“As a result, whenever security forces and police launch operations against militants in one district, they manage to slip into another or even the Valley,” they said.According to officials, one of the militants appears to have been wounded in last week’s encounter, with search parties finding blood stains inside the forests. Vast plumes of smoke were seen rising from the forests last Thursday after heavy gunfire and multiple grenade explosions, although a senior Army officer attributed these to search parties trying to prevent ambushes.Story continues below this adOn April 20, a militant ambush on an Army truck carrying fruit for locals near Bhimber Gali led to the death of five soldiers. Five more elite Army para-commandos were killed in the massive combing operation that followed in the Kesari Hill area in Rajouri’s Kandi forest.These killings came two years after nine soldiers were killed in the Chamrer and Bhatta Durrian forests in what was then one of Jammu’s longest operations in three decades.