The shootout marked an escalation in counter-terrorism operations after three soldiers died and two of their colleagues were wounded in an ambush on a 34 Rashtriya Rifles team while they were setting up a tent in the forests of Halan in south Kashmir’s Kulgam district on Friday evening.
Security sources said “three to four foreign terrorists” targeted the soldiers from behind tree lines in Halan, throwing a hand grenade, and then engaging them with gunshots, which wounded five of them. The soldiers responded with quick counter-fire, but the attackers managed to escape.