Srinagar: Lance Naik Mohan Nath Goswami, a Special Forces Commando of the Army who laid down his life while battling militants in Handwara on Thursday, had eliminated 10 militants in a short span of 11 days before making the supreme sacrifice in Kashmir.

"In the last 11 days, he was actively involved in three counter-terrorism operations in the Kashmir Valley in which 10 terrorists have been eliminated and one captured alive," Udhampur-based Defence Spokesman Colonel S D Goswami said. The spokesman said Lance Naik Goswami volunteered to join the elite Para Commando outfit of the Army in 2002 and went on to gain the reputation of being one of the toughest soldiers of his unit - no small feat in an outfit that boasts of being one among the best in the world".