Jammu/Jaipur, 11 May

A soldier was killed when he was hit by a fragment of a Pakistani drone, which was successfully intercepted by the Army Air Defence at an air base in Jammu and Kashmir's Udhampur district on Saturday, officials said.

India and Pakistan agreed to a ceasefire along the Line of Control and International Border on Saturday. Tension between India and Pakistan soared after the Indian Armed Forces hit terror launchpads in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) last week in response to the Pahalgam attack.

The solider was on duty at the Udhampur air base, which came under Pakistani drone attack on Saturday.

The Indian Air Defence successfully intercepted the drones in the air, but a jawan was hit by a fallen debris resulting in critical injuries to him, the officials said, adding that he later succumbed to his injuries.

Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma paid rich tributes to the soldier and expressed sympathies with his family.

“The news of the martyrdom of Shri Surendra Singh Moga ji, a son of Rajasthan, a resident of Jhunjhunu, a soldier of the Indian Army, who attained martyrdom at Udhampur Air Base while performing his duty of national security is extremely sad,” he wrote on X.