Three security personnel and an arrested Pakistani terrorist were injured on Sunday when militants opened fire on a joint search party of the Army and police inside a forest in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir, officials said. Heavy firing and explosions were reported from Bhatta Durrian forest of Mendhar which along with nearby forest areas adjoining Surankote (Poonch) and Thanamandi in Rajouri district is witnessing a massive search operation, the officials said.

The operation, which saw nine Army personnel losing their lives in separate ambushes in Surankote and Mendhar on October 11 and 14, entered the 14th day on Sunday. A police spokesperson said two policemen and an Army jawan along with a prisoner Zia Mustafa, a Pakistani terrorist affiliated with the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) were injured in fresh firing by terrorists in Bhatta Durrian forest this morning.