Major infiltration bid foiled in Keran, 5 militants killed

Fayaz Bukhari

Army jawans take positions during an encounter at Keran sector on Tuesday. -Excelsior/Aabid Nabi

Srinagar, July 9: Army foiled a major infiltration attempt in North Kashmir’s Keran sector by eliminating 5 militants while an Army jawan was killed when their patrol party was fired upon near the Line of Control (LoC) in Uri sector last night.
General Officer Commanding of Kupwara based 28 Division of the Army, Major General, Lalit Pandey told reporters that eight to nine militants were moving in the forest area about 500 meters inside Indian territory near the LoC.
He said that the militants were immediately engaged by firing from the post located along the fence.  He said the fire was very effective and resulted in the elimination of five militants, while the remaining flew towards the LoC under the cover of thick foliage.
The General said that three of them died on the spot while two more succumbed to injuries today. He said that the group of militants belong to Lashkar-e-Toiba and Hizbul Mujahideen and had crossed the LoC during the day and were intending to cross the fence under the cover of darkness.
Major General Pandey said  they already had  information about the likelihood of militants attempting infiltration in Keran Sector. He said that the troops were alert and vigilant. “They detected the movement in the forest area about 500 meters on this side of the LoC”, he added.
The General said that since the area where the militants were eliminated is near the enemy bunker and in mined area, retrieving of the bodies was not possible. He said the search operation near the LoC is on to rule out presence of infiltrators.
The GOC said that there are 350 militants waiting on the launching pads on the other side of the LoC in Tangdhar, Keran, Macchil and Gurez sectors. He said that troops on the LoC are alert to foil any infiltration attempt.
A Srinagar based  defence spokesman in a statement said that till receipt of the last information, the operations were in progress and some war like stores may be recovered from the sight.
The statement said that the GOC Chinar Corps, Lieutenant General Gurmeet Singh commended the troops for their dedication and alertness. He also congratulated all the security agencies for their synergy and said that the operation in Keran sector was a mark of jointness.
Army sources said that an Army patrol near the LoC in Uri’s Rustom area was fired upon during last night and one Army jawan was killed. He has been identified as Havaldar Karki.
Army conducted search of the area in the morning and no militant was found.
In the meantime, two personnel of Special Operations Group (SOG) Srinagar were injured this evening when two grenades were fired on their bunker at Lawveypora on the national highway in the outskirts of Srinagar.

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