Following the sighting of seven suspected terrorists in a village of the Pathankot district of neighbouring state, Punjab, schools at Army installations in the Jammu region and along the highway were on Thursday closed till 29 July as a precautionary measure.

In the wake of the spotting of the suspicious-looking intruders, a red alert has been sounded in military installations while a massive search operation has been launched by the Army, police, and paramilitary forces in the border areas of Kathua (Jammu) and Pathankot to track down the suspects.

A sketch of one of the suspects has also been released based on the description of a woman who spotted the seven ‘suspicious’ men in the Phangtoli, according to a senior police official.

The ‘suspicious’ men demanded water from the woman before heading to the jungle, police said. Soon after the woman informed the villagers and the police about the incident, a search operation was launched.

Meanwhile, the Punjab Police have also inducted three Quick Reaction Teams (QRTs) that were trained by the Army in tackling terror attacks. The Pathankot district of the neighbouring state witnessed twin terror attacks, one at Dinanagar in Gurdaspur in 2015 and the other at the Pathankot Air Base in 2016.

In the wake of the spurt in terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir, additional troops have been mobilised in the Jammu division. The presence of about 40 to 50 hardcore Pakistani terrorists has been reported in the hilly districts of the Jammu division, including Rajouri, Poonch, Doda, Kathua, Reasi, and Udhampur. Attacks by them indicate that they are highly trained in ambushing Army vehicles and jungle warfare.

Fresh infiltration bids are also on the rise through the international border and Line of Control (LOC) in J&K and Punjab.

A high-level meeting of top brass of the J&K Police, Punjab Police, BSF, and Intelligence Agencies was recently held at Kathua to chalk out a joint strategy to tackle the menace of terrorism.

Army Chief General Upendra Dwivedi visited J&K thrice in the past about 20 days to review security at the LOC and hold a joint security review meeting.

Security has also been stepped up for the ongoing Amarnath yatra.