SRINAGAR: Jammu and Kashmir police along with the Indian Army foiled an infiltration bid along the Line of Control in the Hathlanga sector of Uri in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district by killing three militants, who as per officials were tasked to carry out a “big strike in northern Kashmir.”
Addressing a joint press conference at divisional headquarters in Baramulla, Commander 161 Brigade PMS Dhillon said that since the past few days, there were inputs about possible infiltration bids from across aimed at disrupting the peaceful atmosphere prevailing in Baramulla.
“Acting on the inputs, the alert troops observed the movement of three to four militants who were trying to cross LoC in Hathlanga sector of Uri at 6:40 am (on Saturday). A contact was established and the encounter started which lasted till 8:40 am. The security forces used UBGL, MGLs, rocket launchers and fired at the terrorists in which one terrorist was neutralised and two others got injured,” the army officer said.
He said that the two injured militants changed the movements and positions. “At 9:15 am, another contact was established that lasted for 30 minutes in which a second terrorist was killed and the third one who was injured managed to exfiltrate with the help of Pakistan army’s fire. We used quadcopters but the Pakistan army fired at them as well. This reflects how the Pakistan army is directly involved in pushing infiltrators into this side to destabilise the peace in Kashmir,” Dhillon said.
He added that the third militant who was injured fell on the Pakistani side and his body was perhaps recovered by the Pakistani army there. “In the operation, three militants were killed. One Ak 74, one Ak 47, one Chinese pistol, a few grenades and a five kilogram IED was recovered from the slain militants. Bodies of two terrorists were also recovered. Indian and Pakistani currency was also recovered from them,” the army officer said, adding that in the operation the army along with J&K police’s SoG successfully foiled an infiltration bid.
Replying to a query, the army officer said that militants always take advantage of erratic weather to sneak into this side but “our Counter Insurgency and Counter Terrorist grid is active” along the LoC to foil all such bids—(KNO)
