Army Jawan Martyred in Udhampur Encounter, JeM Terrorists Trapped
During the raids, investigators seized digital devices and incriminating documents linked to a terror-related case. Image courtesy: X.com/@Whiteknight_IA
An Army soldier was killed in action during a fierce gunfight in Jammu and Kashmir’s Udhampur district on Friday night (September 19, 2025). Security forces said three to four terrorists, suspected to be from the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), were trapped in the ongoing encounter.
Initially, the Army reported that the exchange of fire occurred in the general area of Kishtwar. Later, it clarified that the gunfight was taking place along the Doda-Udhampur border, in the Dudu Basantgarh heights.
“Contact with terrorists. Update | Contact Site of the ongoing operation is Doda-Udhampur border. Operation continues,” the Army’s White Knights Corps posted on X.
How did the Operation begin?
Based on intelligence inputs, a joint team of the Army, Special Operations Group (SOG), and police launched a search operation in the hilly terrain of Basantgarh. Contact was soon established with the hiding terrorists, triggering a gunfight.
One Army jawan sustained bullet injuries during the encounter. He was rushed to a hospital but later succumbed, an India Today report said.
Has the area seen recent terror activity?
The Basantgarh-Dudu belt has been a hotbed of militant activity. On June 26, security forces gunned down Haider, a top JeM commander active in the region for four years. Earlier on April 25, 2025, another Army soldier was killed in a similar encounter in the same forested zone.
Multiple encounters have been reported in this belt over the past year, highlighting its continued strategic importance for terror groups operating in Jammu and Kashmir.
Meanwhile, the Jammu and Kashmir Police’s Counter-Intelligence unit carried out extensive search operations across seven districts which include Srinagar, Baramulla, Anantnag, Kupwara, Handwara, Pulwama, and Shopian.
During the raids, investigators seized digital devices and incriminating documents linked to a terror-related case.
What happened in Operation Guddar?
Earlier this month on September 8, 2025, 2 soldiers, including a junior commissioned officer (JCO), were killed and another was injured during a fierce encounter with terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kulgam district. Earlier in the day, security forces gunned down two terrorists during Operation Guddar.
