In a major success, Army on Sunday foiled an infiltration bid in Keeran sector of north Kashmir’s Kupwara district by killing six unidentified militants.
Sources said troops noticed the movement of a heavily armed group of militants along the LoC in Keeran sector, who were trying to infiltrate into Indian side Saturday night. “As the troops challenged the infiltrators, they opened fire and in the retaliatory action, six of them were neutralized,” they said.
Confirming the killing of six infiltrators, Defence spokesperson Col Rajesh Kalia said a search operation was underway to determine no other militants were hiding in the area. The identity of the slain militants was not known immediately.
“No casualty among the forces has been reported yet in the operation, he said and added the operation was in progress. Reports said additional security forces were rushed to the area and a massive hunt was launched in the dense forest to nab the other militants.
The encounter comes just four days after Army foiled a similar infiltration bid along the LoC in Machhil sector in the same district, killing three militants. Earlier on May 26, five more militants were killed in a fierce gun battle along the LoC in Tanghdar sector of Kupwara district.
With the onset of summer, infiltration attempts have increased in the past few weeks. “With the mercury rising and snow-melting in the valley, the chances of infiltration increase from the Pakistani side. The Army is all geared up to counter such threats,” a senior army officer said.
Sources said dozens of new launching pads have been activated by Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Hizb-ul-Mujahideen across the LoC and they are making all-out efforts to push militants into the Indian territory with the onset of summer.
“Surveillance of LoC is no mean job. There are mountains, rivers, streams, ridges, ravines and gorges along the LoC. It is not a cut and dried area that army has to guard. Despite the three-tier fencing, the army needs highly sophisticated surveillance equipment to keep the enemy at bay,” they added.