Security forces in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kathua district kicked off a fresh assault at dawn on Friday, resuming a high-stakes anti-terror operation after a night’s pause.

The mission, centered near Jakhole village in the rugged Ghati Juthana area, follows Thursday’s ferocious gunfight that left three terrorists and three policemen dead, with seven others—including a Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO)—wounded.

The operation reignited with search teams fanning out to recover bodies, locate a missing policeman, and eliminate any lingering threats. Drones have spotted three fallen terrorists, but two others remain unaccounted for, though officials suspect all may be neutralized. “There’s no response from their side,” an official noted, signaling cautious optimism as forces close in.

Thursday’s clash erupted around 8 AM when the Jammu and Kashmir Police’s Special Operations Group (SOG), backed by the Army and CRPF, confronted a suspected Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) cell believed to have slipped across the International Border from Pakistan’s Hiranagar sector.

It’s unclear if these are the same militants who dodged an earlier dragnet in Sanyal forest. The firefight saw the SDPO and his team pinned near a rivulet, with three of his security officers killed and the officer himself evacuated injured by evening.

The terrorists, possibly infiltrating via a ravine or tunnel last Saturday, left a trail of gear—carbines, grenades, and IED materials—found Monday near Hiranagar.

The People’s Anti-Fascist Front, a JeM proxy, claimed the attack. With DGP Nalin Prabhat and IG Bhim Sen Tuti steering the four-day effort, reinforcements—including airdropped Army special forces—signal a no-holds-barred push to crush the threat in Kathua’s wilds.