The Indian Army and the Jammu and Kashmir Police, in a joint operation, killed a terrorist in an encounter in Basantgarh in the Udhampur district of the Union Territory.

Codenamed Operation Bihali, the White Knight Corps of the Army said the terrorist has been “neutralized” but the operation is still underway.

The Army said the operation started based on specific intelligence received by the security forces, and the operation was launched earlier today.

The security in Jammu and Kashmir has been increased ahead of the Amarnath yatra, and 180 companies of the Central police forces have been deployed.

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The 38-day-long yatra to 3,880-meter-high holy cave shrine of Amarnath in south Kashmir Himalayas is scheduled to start from the twin routes — the traditional 48-km Pahalgam route in the Anantnag district and the 14-km shorter but steeper Baltal route in the Ganderbal district — on July 3.

On May 22, a soldier was killed in action during an encounter with terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kishtwar. Four terrorists were trapped in the area, and the encounter happened a week after six terrorists were eliminated in an operation in south Kashmir.

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Anti-terror operations have been ramped up in the region after the Pulwama terror attack on April 22, in which 26 people were killed. Some of the terrorists involved in the attack were Pakistani, and India responded by launching Operation Sindoor, attacking nine terror bases in the country, including the headquarters of the Lashkar-e-Taiba in Muridke and the Jaish-e-Mohammed in Bahawalpur.

Pakistan attempted, and largely failed, to target military and civilian installations in India using drones and missiles on three successive days.