Jawan killed in Udhampur encounter 2 days after Pahalgam attack

The jawan was identified as Havildar Jhantu Ali Shaikh of 6 PARA SF.

“Based on specific intelligence, a joint operation with Jammu and Kashmir Police was launched today in Basantgarh, Udhampur. Contact was established and a fierce firefight ensued. One of our bravehearts sustained grievous injuries in the initial exchange and later succumbed despite best medical efforts,” the Army said in a statement.

Operations are ongoing. The area near Basantgarh is used by nomads for grazing cattle during summer months.

A day earlier, two militants were killed in another encounter that took place in the Uri sector of north Kashmir. The operation had begun early Wednesday morning after the Army spotted a group of militants trying to infiltrate into the Valley through a stream in Uri sector in north Kashmir’s Baramulla. Army said that as the troops challenged the infiltrators, they opened fire which was retaliated by the soldiers leading to a gunfight in which two militants were killed.

The search operations for infiltrators come after Tuesday’s attack in Pahalgam that killed 25 tourists and a local pony wallah.