An Indian army colonel died and two security personnel sustained serious injuries in a gun battle with Kashmiri militants in Kupwara district on Tuesday.
According to Indian media, Colonel Santosh Mahadik, commanding officer of the 41 Rashtriya Rifles, was injured when a search party he was leading came under fire from Kashmiri freedom fighters in the dense forests of Haji Naka along the Line of Control (LoC).
Army and police personnel were carrying out searches as part of an operation that started on November 13 to flush out the resistance fighters, suspected to be from Lashkar-e-Taiba—hiding in the forest area.
The fighters fled deep into the forests and the security forces continued to chase them, and a fresh encounter erupted on Tuesday, an official said.
