Infiltration bid foiled in Nowshera, 1 terrorist shot dead, 2 injured

The army has recovered one AK 47 assault rifle, three AK magazines with 175 rounds, one 9 mm pistol, two magazines with 15 rounds, four hand grenades, communication equipment, large quantity of eatables and clothing for sustenance

The army on Tuesday claimed it foiled a major infiltration bid along the 744-km Line of Control (LoC) and shot dead a terrorist besides wounding two others in Nowshera sector of Rajouri district.

The army has recovered one AK 47 assault rifle, three AK magazines with 175 rounds, one 9 mm pistol and other items.

“Alert troops of the Indian Army on Monday night foiled a major infiltration bid along the Line of Control in the Nowshera sector in a deliberate and massive operation spanned over two nights,” said Jammu-based defence spokesperson Lt Col Suneel Bartwal.

He said on Monday midnight, alert ambushes of the Indian Army deployed along the LoC observed suspicious movement of a group of terrorists from across the border towards Indian side.

“Alert troops kept the movement of the infiltrators under constant observation and when they were nearly 300 metres inside LoC, they were challenged and a firefight ensued,” he said.

“Heavy and accurate fire was brought down on the terrorists and one terrorist was seen falling to the side while two others who were injured, were seen taking cover in the jungle,” added Col Bartwal.

The area of operation being broken ground, having thick jungle and foliage, with inclement weather, the terrorists hid themselves in the jungle. Additional troops were moved in, and the area was cordoned.

“In a deliberate and massive search operation lasting over two days and two nights, in an area which is heavily mined, in inclement weather conditions, body of one terrorist who was neutralized, has been recovered with weapon and war like stores. During further search operations into the jungle blood trail, with drag marks on ground were observed leading towards the LoC. Possibly, other injured, terrorists taking advantage of the forest foliage managed to move back across the LoC,” he said.

The army has recovered one AK 47 assault rifle, three AK magazines with 175 rounds, one 9 mm pistol, two magazines with 15 rounds, four hand grenades, communication equipment, large quantity of eatables and clothing for sustenance.

The intrusion bid was planned by the Pakistani terrorists at a time when the 62-day long annual Amarnath pilgrimage has just begun on July 1. There were strong intelligence inputs of a possible terror strike to disrupt the pilgrimage this year.