Two Pakistani infiltrators killed in Jammu and Kashmir’s Udhampur, OGW detained

Srinagar: The armed forces on Thursday informed that two Pakistani infiltrators, suspected to be affiliated with the Pakistan-based proscribed outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), were killed, and an alleged over-ground worker was detained in a remote high-altitude area in Udhampur district of Jammu and Kashmir.

The officials identified the two infiltrators as Saddam and Mustafa from Pakistan and claimed that an assault rifle with four magazines, M4 carbine with three magazines, a glock pistol with two magazines and four grenades were recovered from them.

The joint operation by the Army, police and CRPF was conducted in the dense Brattal Sohan and Khubban forests of Majalta bordering Kathua district amid heavy rain.


“In a joint intelligence-based operation during the intervening night of 16-17 September 2026, inputs indicated the presence of terrorists in Brattal, Udhampur. Despite hostile weather, difficult terrain and poor visibility, troops of White Knight Corps, J&K Police and CRPF launched a targeted counter-terrorism operation, resulting in the neutralisation of two terrorists,” Jammu-based White Knight Corps said in a post on X.

Officials said the operation is still in progress. “Security forces remain deployed to track and neutralise any remaining threat,” the statement read.

Officials also informed that a local OGW has been detained by the armed forces who they suspect was acting as guide of this group of infiltrators. “We suspect that this was a group of four infiltrators and the one suspect has guided them through this terrain. We hope to get another breakthrough soon,” said a senior army official.

While detailing about the operation, army officials informed that they were tracing the movement the infiltrators for over a week now. After the cordon and search operation in the forest area, initial contact with the infiltrators was established around 9 pm on Wednesday following which the night remained largely silent. On Thursday morning, after fresh exchange of fire and blasts, two infiltrators were killed.

Officials said this was the second major encounter in Udhampur district this year. In February, two Pakistani infiltrators, including Rubani alias Abu Mavia, who was active in the area for the past several years, were killed in the Ramnagar forests.

Army's Northern Commander Lieutenant General Pratik Sharma lauded the White Knight Corps for its swift, precise and professional action in neutralizing the two terrorists.

"The successful intelligence-based operation, conducted in seamless synergy with Police and CRPF, once again underscores the strength of joint inter-agency coordination in the counter-terrorism grid. Northern Command remains steadfast in its resolve to ensure a terror-free Jammu and Kashmir," the Udhampur-based command said in a post on X.

Over the past several years, the difficult mountain terrain of the Kathua-Udhampur-Doda belt was used by JeM infiltrators to establish hideouts and evade security forces after infiltrating from across the border.

Police and the army maintain that despite fresh ceasefire between the Indian and Pakistani Army since February 2021, several infiltrators have managed to cross the Line of Control and International Border and are active in Jammu and some parts of Kashmir. Foreign infiltrators remain “a major challenge” for the security grid, according to them. Security forces have been engaged in massive anti-terrorism operations, especially in high-altitude areas across Jammu, where foreign infiltrators are hiding in the dense forest areas, for more than three years now.