Days before the first round of assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir, the Indian Army on Wednesday said it killed two terrorists.

In a post on X (formerly Twitter), the 9 Corps of Army said two terrorists were killed in Khandara in Kathua in the Jammu region.

The Army did not provide any further information related to the operation.

The development comes at a time when the security forces are on a high alert in J&K ahead of the assembly elections. In the wake of a string of a string of terrorist attacks in J&K this year, the security forces have lately ramped up operations.

Separately, the 15 Corps said on Wednesday that Army and J&K Police recovered weapons and ammunition in Kupwara’s Keran areas. The arms were likely to be used by terrorists.

Following specific intelligence inputs, the Army and police launched a search operation that led to the recovery of a very large cache of arms ammunition and explosives including AK 47 rounds, hand grenades, RPG rounds, material for improvised explosive devices (IEDs), and other war-like stores, said the statement.

Ahead of the elections, the Army has reportedly launched a three-pronged strategy.

As per The Indian Express, the strategy comprises: Beefing up the counter-infiltration grid by redeploying more troops along the Lone of Control (LoC), deploying more soldiers in temporary operating bases (TOBs) in hilly areas as well as forests, and intensifying search and destroy operations.

Assembly elections are being held after nearly a decade in J&K. The voting will take place in three phases on September 18, Sept. 25, and October 1. The counting of votes will take place on Oct. 8. Elections were last held in J&K in 2014 and a PDP-BJP coalition government was formed in early 2015, which collapsed in 2018 after the BJP withdrew support. Later that year, the then-J&K Governor Satya Pal Malik dissolved the assembly. The J&K has been without an elected government since then and elections have been due for over four years.

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Ahead of elections in Jammu & Kashmir, 2 terrorists killed in Kathua