Soldier Killed in Baramulla Gunfight; Fourth Army Casualty in a Week

Srinagar: An army soldier was killed today August 13 in a fierce gunfight with a group of militants who tried to enter along the Line of Control (LoC) in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district.

This is the fourth casualty suffered by the army in Jammu and Kashmir in less than a week amid a sharp uptick in insurgency-related violence with militants managing to give a slip to security forces in two major encounters in Kulgam and Kishtwar districts.

An official said that the soldier, whose identity was not immediately known, was killed in Churunda village of Uri sector in the north Kashmir district during an intense exchange of gunfire with a group of militants who tried to enter from across the LoC.

Some reports said that the firing was part of action by the Pakistan’s Border Action Team and the soldier was killed when the Indian army launched a counter-infiltration attempt. However, The Wire couldn’t immediately verify the reports.

The official said that the army succeeded in pushing back the militants and a combing operation has been launched in the area.

Earlier, two soldiers were killed by militants while two more suffered injuries in the intervening night of August 8 and 9 in south Kashmir’s Kulgam district where security forces battled a group of heavily armed militants for 12 days in one of the longest anti-insurgency operations in the valley.

The slain soldiers were identified as Pritpal Singh and Harminder Singh. The latter’s family has claimed in a video that the two were encircled by militants who deprived them of food and water for five days and forced them to eat dirt before killing them.

A local militant from Pulwama district was also killed in the Kulgam encounter which broke out in a forested area of Akhal on August 1. There were reports of another militant being killed in the encounter. However, these reports have not been officially confirmed so far.

The anti-insurgency operation in Kulgam by the army’s elite para commandoes, J&K police special operations group and central paramilitary forces was expanded to cover the woods of the adjoining Anantnag and Shopian districts before it was called off on Wednesday.

A local news gatherer quoting an official said that the operation was called off on Wednesday morning as “no further movement” of militants was detected” in the area where “continuous search and combing” operation has been underway for nearly two weeks.

In the adjoining Kishtwar district of Jammu’s Chenab valley, a joint team of the army, police and paramilitary forces exchanged fire with a group of militants on Sunday in a forested area of Dul.

In a post on X, the army’s Jammu-based White Knight Corps wrote: "Contact with #Terrorists. Alert Indian Army troops while carrying out an intelligence based operation have established contact with terrorists in the general area of Dul in Kishtwar in the early hours of 10 Aug 2025”.

However, there has been no update about the encounter and no fresh firing was reported from the area. According to reports, two personal security guards of a top militant from the Chenab valley were involved in the firing.

On Monday, a 31-year army soldier from Telangana died in a fall from a mountain during a routine patrol near the Line of Control in Baramulla district, the army said.

Sepoy B Anil of Maratha Light Infantry, who was deployed at a a border post in Uri sector, slipped during a routine patrol and died on the spot on Monday following which his body was taken to Uri sub district hospital for medico-legal formalities.

The army’s Srinagar-based Chinar Corps said on X: "Chinar Corps deeply regrets the loss of precious life of Braveheart Sepoy Banoth Anil Kumar, while performing operational duty along the Line of Control in Baramulla district. Chinar Warriors salute his immense valour and sacrifice, express deepest condolence and stand in solidarity with the bereaved family”.

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