Jammu:
Surrounded by snow, they trek in single file, their eyes scanning the blinding-white landscape for the man who has forced them here.
Dreaded Hizb-ul-Mujahideen militant Shahdeen Khanday is meant to be hiding in the Pir Panjal mountain peaks.
''There was a specific input about the presence of some militants in the area, and accordingly we launched the operations. These are on areas up to 10,000 feet plus. However, after the troops had been launched into the area, the weather had packed up and there was continuous snow for three to four days,'' recounts Gurjeet Singh, Brigadier General Staff, 16 Corps.
Some jawans managed to scale the peaks, but then the militants opened fire, forcing them back.
Choppers dropped off more jawans. After a seven-day search, the operation was finally called off. The militants had either escaped or died in the cold.
In the same Doda-Kishtwar belt last month, two Hizb-ul-Mujahideen leaders were killed in an underground bunker. Shockingly, it had been their hideout for six years. Shielded here, they surveyed cities and chalked out terror plans. Ground workers called in to receive their orders, and then carried out attacks.
The commanders were finally shot dead, but the Army worries that many others are still hiding in these remote mountains. And in some ways, the army says, it's easier to catch them off-guard. That means more operations through the snow.
''Irrespective of the altitude, irrespective of the weather conditions, based on inputs we have, operations are launched irrespective of how the conditions are because our endeavor is to neutralise the terrorists in this area,'' says Singh.