Jammu, Apr 1: A mine blast occurred near the Line of Control (LoC) in J&K’s Poonch district on Tuesday, leading to retaliatory firing from the Indian Army personnel in the area, officials said.

Officials said that a mine blast occurred under suspicious circumstances near the LoC in the Krishna Ghati (KG) sector of Poonch.

The army resorted to retaliatory firing. There is no casualty or damage reported from anywhere in the sector so far," an official said, adding that the cause of the suspicious blast is being ascertained.

The Poonch incident came amid an extended anti-terrorist operation going on in the Kathua district since March 23.

Following the reports of three terrorists still remaining untraced in Kathua, security forces have heightened vigil in the border districts of Poonch, Rajouri, Samba, Jammu, and Kathua districts of Jammu division.

Two terrorists were killed in the forest area of Saniyal in Kathua, where a group of five terrorists had been spotted.

Reports said this group of five terrorists had recently infiltrated into the Indian side and were now trying to move to the higher reaches of the Kathua district.

Joint forces have expanded the area of the search operation, and due to this, there was a brief exchange of gunfire between the terrorists and the security forces on Monday evening.

A 'search and destroy' operation has also been started in Poonch and Rajouri districts, where foreign mercenaries carried out some dastardly attacks against police, army and the security forces last year.

Terrorists have been carrying out terror activities in the Jammu division as per the directives given by their handlers sitting across the border in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

Security forces have also revised their strategy and are maintaining a dominant presence in the areas, which has been keeping the hiding terrorists on the run, officials said.

Over 4,000 trained Para Commandos and troopers of the CRPF have been deployed deep inside the forested areas and on the mountain tops in Poonch, Rajouri, Ramban, Udhampur and Reasi districts.

24X7 patrolling is being carried out on the LoC and the international border in J&K to thwart infiltration bids and, at worst, engage the terrorists immediately after they attempt infiltration.

--IANS

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