Rajauri: An Army jawan was today killed in anencounter with terrorists near the Line of Control (LoC) in Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir.
"During the early morning hours, an Army patrol was fired upon by terrorists/inimical elements close to the Line of Control in the forward areas of Naoshera Sector (in Rajouri district)," Defence spokesman said.
"Own troops retaliated appropriately. In the ensuing firefight one soldier was injured and later attained death while being evacuated to military hospital," he said.
The deceased has been identified as Sepoy Sudimesh from Kerala.
The terrorists opened fire on the Army patrol party ahead of the border fencing, (which is situated some kilometres away from the LoC), Defence Sources said.
Search operations were still in progress till last reports came in, he said.
Meanwhile, a militant was neutralised today by the Army during the ongoing encounter in the dense forests of Manigah and the search operation continues in attempts to flush out the remaining terrorists.
Read: Jammu and Kashmir: Massive operation underway to smoke out terrorists in Kupwara
An officer and two jawans have been injured since yesterday during the operation.
Security forces have been combing the forest near the Line of Control (LoC) since November 13 after receiving information about the presence of a group of heavily-armed militants.
On November 17, Commanding Officer of 41 Rashtriya Rifles Colonel Santosh Mahadik was killed in an encounter with militants.
