Soldier killed in counter-infiltration ops in Poonch

Jammu, Jul 23: A soldier was killed in the line of duty as the Army thwarted an infiltration bid by terrorists along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu Poonch district early Tuesday, the latest in a string of terrorist attacks in the region.
Lance Naik Subash Kumar was injured in the intense gunfight and later succumbed, said officials, adding terrorists too suffered “loss”.
“All Ranks of White Knight Corps salute the supreme sacrifice of Braveheart L/Nk Subhash Chander who laid down his life in the line of duty. White Knight Corps offers deepest condolences and stands firm with the bereaved family in this hour of grief,” army in a post on X confirmed.
Officials said that a post-mortem has been conducted and the soldier’s body handed over to the Army, a police officer said. A search operation has been launched in the area, the officials said.
Earlier Army in a post on X said, “Alert troops foiled an infiltration bid by effectively engaging infiltrating terrorists … in the Battal sector of Krishna Ghati at 0300 hours,” White Knight Corps said on X. “During the exchange of heavy fire, one braveheart was injured, who later succumbed”.
There has been a spurt in terror activities in Jammu in recent months, raising fears about the revival of militancy in the region.
Yesterday, alert soldiers thwarted a major terrorist attack on a home of gallantry soldier’s in Budhal -Khawas area of Rajouri, an official said. As per details, terrorists opened fire at one of temporary army posts, which was operational near the house of a VDG member Parshotam Kumar, a Village Defence Guard (VDG) member in Gundha -a remote village of Rajouri district at around 0310 hrs and the fire was promptly retaliated by security personnel,” official said, adding, “The attack was given appropriate retaliation by alert security personnel.” Sources said that an army trooper was injured in a brief exchange of fire between terrorists and hospitalized, but there has been no official confirmation on the same.
This attack follows two high-level meetings chaired by Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha and Army Chief General Upendra Dwivedi in Jammu on Saturday, where they reviewed the security situation in response to the recent surge in terror attacks in the region. According to sources, security forces initiated a cordon and search operation (CASO) in a village in the Budhal area of Rajouri district after suspected terrorists opened fire at a security picket/post early in the morning.
This incident follows another attempted terror attack on a Territorial Army (TA) battalion post in Galuti Patrara village of Manjakote, Rajouri district, on July 7. An Army sentry deployed at the post sustained injuries during the initial exchange of gunfire, which lasted for half an hour on Sunday morning. The terrorist attack was thwarted as fire was retaliated with equal caliber by the army.