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Four terrorists killed as forces foil infiltration bid in J&K’s Kupwara
The terrorists were neutralised in a joint operation by police and the army in the Kala Jungle area of Kupwara’s Machhal sector
Four terrorists were killed on Friday as security forces foiled a major infiltration bid along the Line of Control (LoC) in north Kashmir’s Kupwara district, the police said.
The terrorists were neutralised in a joint operation by police and the army in the Kala Jungle area of Kupwara’s Machhal sector. The encounter comes a week after security forces gunned down five terrorists while foiling an infiltration bid at Jumgund Keran close to the LoC in the Kupwara district.
Confirming the development, Kashmir Zone Police tweeted: “In a joint operation, army and police have killed four terrorists in Kala Jungle of Machhal sector in Kupwara who were trying to infiltrate to our side from POJK (Pakistan occupied Jammu and Kashmir).”
In a tweet, Indian Army’s Chinar Corps confirmed that forces recovered “war-like stores” from the encounter site.
Army spokesperson Colonel Emron Musavi, while providing details of the infiltration attempt, said on the intervening night of Thursday and Friday, the troops of the Indian Army detected suspicious movement in the general area of Kala Jungle along the LoC in Machhal Sector. “Ambushes were cited and tracking of the terrorist movement was carried out during the night. Around 4.30 am four terrorists were observed crossing the LoC from Pakistan. They were engaged upon coming in effective range by the ambush parties. An intense firefight ensued resulting in the elimination of all four terrorists without any harm to our troops,” he said.
The forces 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.
“The recovery of large amounts of war-like stores indicates the vicious plan of Pakistan by utilising the terrorists to derail the existing peace in the Valley. This successful operation is a big blow to the narco funding & terror plans of the terrorists,” he said.
This is the second major infiltration bid in north Kashmir this month. On June 16, the army and police foiled a major infiltration bid at Jumgund Keran close to the LoC in the Kupwara district and killed five unidentified foreign terrorists.
After the operation, the General Officer Commanding, Vajra Division, Major General Girish Kalia said that there is a ceasefire agreement between two countries (India and Pakistan). However, in the recent past, the forces have been getting a large number of intelligence inputs of likely infiltration from across the LoC.
On June 13, two unidentified terrorists were killed in a joint operation in Kupwara district on the LoC.
Last month on May 13, the army had claimed to have foiled an attempt to disrupt the G20 summit and create disturbance in the Valley by stopping an infiltration bid on the Line of Control in north Kashmir’s Uri sector.
On May 6, a Lashkar-e-Taiba militant from Kulgam was killed in Karhama village in Baramulla district. On May 4, two militants from south Kashmir were killed in another shoot-out with security forces in Baramulla. Both the slain militants were locals belonging to south Kashmir’s Shopian. They had joined militant ranks in March.
Two infiltrators were also gunned down near the LoC in the Machil sector on May 3.
On May 7, security forces were said to have averted a major tragedy by recovering and destroying a 6-kg Improvised Explosive Device (IED) on the disclosure of a militant associate in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district, officials said.
Masuvi said that there has been a decline in infiltration this year. However, army officials said the infrastructure and launch pads across the LoC are still intact.
