A non commissioned officer (NCO) of the Indian Army laid down his life on Wednesday in a gunfight with terrorists in the Kowut area of North Kashmir’s Kupwara.

A heavily armed Pakistani terrorist was also killed in the gunfight.

Paying tributes to the martyred soldier Dilwar Khan, the Srinagar based Chinar Corps of the Indian Army wrote on X; “All Ranks of the ChinarCorps salute the supreme sacrifice of our Braveheart Nk (Gnr) Dilwar Khan who laid down his life in the line of duty. Chinar Warriors salute his immense valour and sacrifice, express deepest condolences and stand in solidarity with the bereaved family”.

The soldier was critically injured during exchange of fire with terrorists and later succumbed.

Dilwar Khan was injured during indiscriminate firing at the troops by the hiding terrorists, said an official.

This is the second casualty of a soldier in J&K in the past 24 hours. Lance Naik, Subhash Chander, died yesterday while fighting infiltrating terrorists in the Poonch district of Jammu.

The Chinar Corps in a statement earlier said; “Based on specific input regarding presence of terrorists in general area Kowut, Kupwara, a Joint Search Operation was launched by Indian Army & J&K Police on days leading upto 23 July 24. On 24 July, suspicious movement was observed and challenged by vigilant troops, in response to which terrorists opened indiscriminate fire. In the ensuing firefight one terrorist has been eliminated and a NCO injured. Operation is in progress”.

Meanwhile, in a solemn wreath-laying ceremony, GOC White Knight Corps Lt. General Naveen Sachdeva laid a wreath at Jammu to pay homage to Braveheart L/Nk Subhash Chander who laid down his life in the line of duty while undertaking counter terrorist
Operation Battal to ensure peace in the region.

On the other hand, 49 rounds of .303 rifle were recovered by the police from a pond near the Hanuman Mandir in Village Glar, under Pangdour Police Station, in the Samba district of Jammu.

It is worth mentioning that a soldier was injured a day earlier in the Rajouri district when terrorists attacked the house of a Shaurya Chakra awardee Village Defence Guard (VDG).