At Sargodha, the 8 F-86s - 4 each assigned to Adampur and Halwara-started engines some 15-20 min late and , as in all fatefull sorties, 2 more Sabres, one from each formation, had to abort due to unserviceabilities.This meant that finally ony 3 Sabres of 11 Squadron skimmed low across the Punjab towards Adampur in the quickly gathering dusk. They soon heard warnings frorn Sakesar SOC that enemy fighters alerted by the Pathankot raid were on the prowl in their vicinity. When only 30 seconds short of their IP (initial Point) at Taran Taran south of Amritsar, the Sabre section encountered four Hunters flying slightly above them at about 500.ft above ground and crossing at almost 90 degrees in close attack formation. Squadron Leader Alam, in the leading F-86, later recalled the encounter:

"I remember thinking what very pretty aircraft these brand new Hunters were as I ordered my section to punch tanks. The Hunters also jettisoned their drop tanks, and we turned into each other for combat. The fight didn't last long. I got my sights on the No 4 Hunter, and after a brief burst, he flicked and went into the ground in a great ball of flame, although I am not certain whether I hit him or not. We were now evenly matched, numerically, although I never fought at such low altitudes again, nor often at such low speeds."

Twisting and turning at tree-top height, the 6 aircraft were being racked round in individual combat at less than 2.00 knots to try and get on each other's tails. Alam goes on:

"We continued tail chasing and I soon shot down my second quarry. We had started off by pulling about five g during the turns, but as the, speed fell off, we got down to perhaps less than two g. I had all the other 5 aircraft in sight, and I watched one Of my wingmen, Squadron Leader 'Butch' Ahmed score strikes on one of the Hunters in front of him. I think it was hit in the wings as white vapour was streaming from the fuel tanks. We had been in combat for five or six minutes within about forty miles Of Adampur, and I was getting worried that More Indian fighters might be sent to the scene, so I gave a call to all my flight members to return to base."

"As it happened the planned PAF strike on Amritsar radar had been aborted at this time, and there were IAF fighters returning from the area to their base at Halwara. Each one of us was exiting individually at very low level when I came across a couple of these Hunters. I turned into them and took a shot at the last man at long range. He turned into me, then took off his bank. I think I registered hits- I only saw smoke coming out, but no flames. As a wise man, I thought I should not turn back after him as I was low on fuel. So I crossed the border and climbed up to contact our GC1 and check my position. I was not sure what had happened to the rest of my flight, and I was relieved to hear that they were all in the vicinity of Sargodha, where I came back and landed. This was the first time we had encountered the Hunters and, any misgivings we had in our minds were resolved that day. In manoeuvrability, the Sabre are undoubtedly better than the Hunter."

Both Squadron Leader Ahmed and Flight Lieutenant Hatmi, who had accompanied Alam, claimed a Hunter each as damaged during this engagement, despite troubles with their gunsights. These had to be used as fixed sights, without their computing facilities, but supporting evidence for the claims of the PAF pilots came on the following day. All-India Radio announced th at Flight Lieutenant Hussain (believed to be the son of the Indian Vice President Zakir Hussain), had been awarded the Vir Chakra for bringing back badly damaged Hunter after intercepting the enemy Sabres at about the time of the first engagement near Adampur. S/L A.K Rawelley, who was shot down by Alam was killed.