Daijiworld Media Network - New Delhi

Jammu, Aug 3: A soldier was killed after his service rifle accidentally discharged while he was on operational duty in the Akhnoor sector of Jammu and Kashmir's Jammu district, officials said on Monday.

The incident occurred on Sunday in the forward Jogwan area of Khour.

According to officials, preliminary findings suggest that the soldier's weapon went off accidentally, leaving him critically injured.

"He was immediately provided medical assistance but succumbed to his injuries," an official said.

The body has been shifted to the Military Hospital in Akhnoor for post-mortem examination and will be handed over to the next of kin after completion of legal formalities.

The incident is the latest in a series of accidental fatalities involving Army personnel in Jammu and Kashmir.

On June 9, two Army personnel were killed in an accidental grenade explosion during a routine equipment handover at a military camp in the Uri sector.

Earlier, on April 11, a soldier at the Sarna camp in Doda district's Bhaderwah died after his weapon accidentally discharged while he was unloading the chamber.

Apart from accidental weapon-related incidents, landmine explosions along the Line of Control (LoC) have also claimed the lives of security personnel.

On July 29, two soldiers of the 8 Rashtriya Rifles, identified as Arjun Jadhav and Vikram Balakrishna, were killed in an accidental landmine blast near Kamalkote in the Uri sector. Separate patrolling incidents also left other personnel injured.

In the Poonch and Rajouri sectors, patrolling teams have suffered casualties after personnel inadvertently stepped on defensive landmines or encountered mines displaced by heavy rains, water runoff or landslides.

Defensive landmines are deployed along the porous and sensitive Line of Control as an anti-infiltration measure but continue to pose risks during routine operational patrols.

In all such incidents, injured personnel are evacuated to nearby military hospitals, while local police and Army authorities conduct inquest proceedings and investigations to ascertain the exact circumstances leading to the accidents.