Jammu, Dec 15 : A gunfight broke out between the joint security forces and terrorists, said to be of the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), in J&Kâ??s Udhampur district on Monday evening, officials said.

IGP Jammu, Bhim Sen Tuti, said in a post on X that the contact was made after precise information was received from the Jammu and Kashmir Police.

A joint team of the Special Operations Group (SOG), the Army, and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) is engaged in the operation.

Officials said gunshots were heard from the besieged Soan Martha village around 6 p.m. when joint forces launched a search operation to track down the hiding terrorists.

"Reinforcements have been rushed to the area to strengthen the cordon and neutralise the terrorists. The SOG of J&K Police, the army, and the CRPF are carrying out the operation. Till the last reports came in, intermittent firing exchanges were going on in the area," an official said, adding that 2 to 3 terrorists of the Jaish are reportedly trapped inside the area surrounded by the security forces.

J&K Police and the security forces have been carrying out aggressive anti-terrorist operations targeting terrorists, their overground workers (OGWs) and sympathisers in order to dismantle the complete support system of terrorism.

On June 26, Pakistani terrorist Haider, also known as Maulvi, was killed in an encounter, whilst three associates escaped due to poor weather conditions and the challenging terrain of Basantgarh's dense forest.

J&K DGP, Nalin Prabhat, had called Haider the top-most commander of the JeM outfit. The police chief added that despite the difficult terrain in the upper reaches of Udhampur, the security forces would eliminate the hiding terrorists one by one.

On September 19, a soldier was killed in another encounter in the district while three terrorists had managed to escape.

The Basantgarh area in Udhampur witnesses frequent face-offs between terrorists and security forces.

Monday's exchange of fire is the third major encounter in the district.

/IANS