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5 LeT terrorists killed as infiltration bid foiled in Kupwara
Additional director general of police of Kashmir Vijay Kumar said five ultras have been killed in the operation in the Machhil sector of Kupwara district so far.
Security forces foiled an infiltration bid and shot dead five Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists along the Line of Control (LoC) in the Kupwara district of Jammu and Kashmir, police and army officers familiar with the matter said on Thursday.
Additional director general of police of Kashmir Vijay Kumar said five ultras have been killed in the operation in the Machhil sector of Kupwara district so far.
Army’s Chinar Corps said the Rashtriya Rifles and the J&K Police launched a joint operation near the Line of Control (LoC) and stopped a group of terrorists from crossing the border into Kashmir.
“Joint anti-infiltration operations…have resulted in elimination of 5 terrorists who were attempting to cross the Line of Control into Kashmir. 5 AK Rifles and other war like stores have been recovered,” it said in a post on X (formerly Twitter).
The police said the slain terrorists were members of LeT.
“Five LeT terrorists killed. Their identification is being ascertained. The search operation is in progress,” Kashmir Zone Police quoted additional director general of police( ADGP), Vijay Kumar, as saying in a post on X.
A police spokesperson said a joint party of Kupwara police and the army (56RR) launched a operation during the intervening night of October 25 and 26 in Sardari Nar area along the LoC in Machhil sector.
Besides, multiple ambushes were laid by the joint teams along the LoC. “The joint team observed movement of terrorists in the thick dense forests of the area who taking advantage of difficult terrain infiltrated to our side on Thursday. Employing meticulous tactics, the terrorists were intercepted, who fired indiscriminately upon the joint team. The fire was retaliated, leading to the elimination of five unidentified terrorists linked with proscribed terror outfit LeT,” the spokesperson said.
The identification of the slain militants was being ascertained. “A huge cache of arms and ammunition, including five AK rifles and other incriminating materials, have been recovered from the site of encounter,” he said.
Jammu and Kashmir’s DGP Dilbag Singh said the number of militants has come down significantly as the security forces in Kashmir killed five LeT militants in a major operation along the LoC in Kupwara on Thursday.
Army’s Chinar Corps said they launched a joint operation along with Jammu and Kashmir Police and foiled an infiltration bid along the LoC in Kupwara sector.
The DGP said the joint operation of the police and army is yet to conclude. “The details will be shared once the operation concludes till the evening,” he said. He said the area opposite this border belt is notorious for a long time. “There is a good number of camps, launching pads and training. At least 16 launching pads are located there in the PoK,” he said.
Previous infiltration attempts
On October 21, two militants had been killed in an infiltration attempt which was foiled by security forces in Uri sector of north Kashmir’s Baramulla district. The bodies were, however, taken back by the infiltrating group to the other side of the LoC, army spokesman Lt Col MK Sahu had said in a statement on Sunday. The forces had recovered war-like stores, including two AK series rifles, six pistols, four Chinese grenades, blankets and two blood-stained bags containing Pakistan and Indian currency notes, Pakistan medicines and eatables.
On September 30, the security forces foiled an infiltration bid by killing two infiltrators along the LoC in north Kashmir’s Kupwara district. The army’s Chinar Corps had also recovered arms and ammunition from the slain. The recovered ammunition included two AK rifles, two hand grenades, a pistol and other war-like stores, the Corps said.
On September 16, the security forces had foiled an infiltration attempt on the LoC in Hatlanga village in Uri, killing three militants who, it said, were trying to cross-over from the other side while Pakistan soldiers stationed there provided cover fire. The incident was the first of this kind in months.
Earlier on August 6, a militant was killed in a joint operation conducted by the Indian Army and Kupwara police in Tangdhar sector. Police had said a terrorist was killed in an encounter while trying to infiltrate along the LoC in the Amrohi area of Tangdhar sector. Two to three other militants accompanying the slain terrorist had escaped back to Pakistan side of LoC, the police had said.
On July 19, two Pakistan militants were killed as security forces had foiled an infiltration bid in Machhil sector of Kupwara. The forces had then launched a thorough search in the morning, resulting in recovery of four AK series rifles, one under barrel grenade launcher (UBGL), five UBGL grenades, nine magazines, 175 AK rounds, six hand grenades, tactical vests and large quantity of war like stores.
In June, the security forces had foiled a major infiltration bid by killing four militants along the LoC in north Kashmir’s Kupwara on June 23, the police had said. They had recovered a huge cache of arms and ammunition, including nine AK series rifles, three pistols, four grenades, 288 AK and pistol rounds, 55 suspected narco packets and other huge quantities of war-like stores.
On June 16, the army and police foiled another major infiltration bid at Jumgund Keran close to the LoC in the Kupwara district and killed five unidentified foreign militants. On June 13, two unidentified militants were killed in a joint operation in Kupwara district on the LoC. Two infiltrators were also gunned down near the LoC in the Machhil sector on May 3.
