SRI NAGAR: After a series of encounters and brief gunfights in the forest belts of Jammu region in the last six months, security forces have launched a major winter offensive to track down militants hiding in the dense and rugged forest areas.

With winter restricting civilian movement to the higher reaches, officials say the conditions offer a strategic opportunity to track down the armed militants. Sources said Army, paramilitary forces and Special Operations Group (SOG) of J&K police are carrying out joint operations in the upper reaches of Jammu region to trace militants, who are using natural caves in the forests and mountains as their hideouts.

The members of People’s Anti-Fascist Front (PAFF), which is considered off-shoot of Jaish-e-Mohammad, and Lashkar-e-Toiba are suspected to be hiding in the forested stretches of Doda, Kishtwar, Udhampur, Rajouri, Poonch and Kathua districts in Jammu region.

They said most of the terrorists are Pakistanis and they are being assisted by locals. The terrorists keep on changing the hideouts to avoid detection and avoid security forces.