An Army soldier died in a gunfight in Jammu and Kashmir's Udhampur district on Friday, while three to four terrorists believed to be from the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) were trapped in the encounter.
Initially, the Army said that another gunfight broke out in Kishtwar, but later clarified that the operation was restricted to Udhampur.
In a post on X, the White Knight Corps said that the gunbattle is underway on the Doda-Udhampur border. "Contact with terrorists. Update | Contact Site of the ongoing operation is Doda-Udhampur border. Operation continues," the tweet read.
Security forces established contact with the terrorists in the Dudu Basantgarh heights. Acting on specific information, the Army, Special Operations Group (SOG), and police launched an operation, resulting in the gunfight.
One Army jawan suffered injuries in the exchange of fire, but later succumbed to his injuries at a hospital.
Several gunbattles have taken place in the area during the past one year.
Haider, a terrorist eliminated in an encounter in the Dudu-Basantgarh forest on June 26, was a top JeM commander, who had been active in the area for the past four years.
On April 25, an Army soldier was killed in a gunfight with terrorists hiding in the Basantgarh area.
Meanwhile, the Jammu and Kashmir Police's Counter-Intelligence unit conducted intensive searches across seven districts in the Kashmir Valley - Srinagar, Baramulla, Anantnag, Kupwara, Handwara, Pulwama and Shopian - in connection with a terror crime case.
During the raids, a huge cache of weapons, including 20 Chinese hand grenades, were recovered by the security forces in Poonch sector.
The weapons' consignment was dumped recently and the plan by terrorists was to shift it to the hinterland for terror-related activities, sources said, adding that timely intel inputs helped thwart the conspiracy.
Incriminating material, including some digital devices and documents were found in the raids.
Source: ANI