Army offices say that the militants had a base in the forest to survive the winters before coming down into the hinterland when the weather gets warmer. “This is a normal pattern for militants in the winters. They stay in the higher reaches during winters to stay away from security forces. Our operational counter-insurgency grid also shifts to cater to this tactics of terrorists. We look for such safe havens,” a senior Army officer said.

The operation, which began on New Year’s eve, took off after security forces received inputs from radio intercepts that a group of Jaish-e-Mohammad and Lashkar-e-Toiba militants were taking shelter in the upper reaches of the Mendhar region.

After getting intelligence inputs from locals who had provided the militants shelter and food, the Army laid down a cordon around the location to flush out the men.

Interestingly, while the Bain forest does not adjoin the Line of Control, a series of unprecedented ceasefire violations - around 20 — took place in Mendhar sector last year. The area is known to be an infiltration belt and in the past year, the entire sector has reported cross LoC firings and attempted infiltration. There have also been militant activities like killings, grenade throwing or attacks on Army convoys.