The army identified the deceased as Subedar Kuldeep Chand of 9 Punjab battalion. He was a resident of Himachal Pradesh.
“He laid down his life while gallantly leading a counter-infiltration operation along the LoC in the Keri Battal area of Sunderbani… Subedar Kuldeep’s team’s valour and his ultimate sacrifice foiled an infiltration attempt by terrorists,” the Jammu-based White Knight Corps posted on X.
Army officials said the troops had noticed the movement of heavily armed infiltrators near a canal in the forest area of Keri Bhattal area late Friday night. The group was challenged by the armed forces, leading to a fierce exchange of fire.
The whole area has been cordoned off with deployment of reinforcements, and a search operation is going on, officials said.
The incident took place two days after India and Pakistan held a brigade commander-level flag meeting in neighbouring Poonch district to discuss issues related to border management. This was the second such meeting since February to de-escalate tension after several incidents of cross-border firing, and an IED attack along the LoC.
