NEW DELHI: A soldier critically injured in a gunfight with terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir‘s Udhampur district late Friday evening succumbed to his injuries on Saturday. He got injured after Army and police launched a massive joint search operation in the higher reaches of the region on Saturday, officials said.The clash erupted when terrorists opened fire on a joint team of the Army and the Special Operations Group (SOG) of J&K Police at the Seoj Dhar forest border in the Dudu-Basantgarh area, which connects Udhampur with Bhaderwah in Doda. The injured soldier was evacuated to the hospital but did not survive.Officials said the area remained under a tight cordon overnight. On Saturday morning, the joint search operation resumed, the officials said, adding that two to three terrorists are believed to be hiding in the forest area.

Reinforcements equipped with drones and sniffer dogs were rushed from both Udhampur and Doda sides, and a massive search operation was underway, officials said. The joint forces are conducting combing operations in the difficult terrain, though no fresh contact with the terrorists has been established so far, they added.