Fayaz Bukhari
Srinagar, June 11: Army today said that five militants, who were killed in Uri sector along the Line of Control (LoC), during three day operation were fidayeen and tasked to carry out Uri-Brigade type of attack that killed 18 soldiers last year.
The Commander of 12-Brigade of Army at Uri, Brigadier Y S Ahlawat, told reporters at Uri this evening that the alert troops averted an attack like last year’s on Uri Brigade in which 18 soldiers were killed. “There was a possibility, the kind of material they were carrying, they could have done the attack something which was similar to Uri early”, he said.
It may be mentioned here that on September 18 last year, in one of the worst attacks on Army, four fidayeen struck Brigade Headquarters at Uri killing 18 Army personnel and leaving equal number injured.
Brigadier Ahlawat said that these militants had body fitted IEDs with timer mechanism and they had to ultimately blow themselves up. “They had uniquely fitted body IEDs which implied that they could have finally blown themselves up”, he said.
The Brigade Commander said that so far five militants have been killed in the ongoing operation. “So far 5 terrorists have been eliminated by resilient troops. Huge quantity of arms and ammunition has been recovered from them which include 5 AK-47 rifles, two Under Barrel Rocket Launchers (UBGLs), large quantity of explosives, combat dresses, eatables with Pakistan marking and uniquely body fitted IEDs with timer mechanism”, he said.
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Brigadier Ahlawat said that this group was infiltrated to disturb peace in the Valley especially during Holy month of Ramadhan. “All indicating that this was a fidayeen group which was infiltrated into the sector with sinister plans of carrying out a gruesome attack on an Army camp or a civil installation around Uri. The alertness and resilience of the Army troops has not only resulted in the elimination of this group but has also ensured peace and tranquility in the Valley which this group wanted to vitiate especially during the Holy month of Ramadhan”, he said.
The Brigade Commander said that Army has foiled 5 infiltration attempts along the LoC in last three days which speaks about alertness of troops and their resolve to foil such designs.
“This is the fifth infiltration bid that has been successfully eliminated by the Army in the last three days. The Army continued with a resolve to keep a strict vigil along the Line of Control and foil such nefarious designs of Pakistan abetted terrorists”, he said.
It may be mentioned here that Army killed 5 infiltrating militants in Uri on June 9. This group of 5-6 infiltrating militants was noticed in Doba Sardar area of Uri near the LoC on June 7 in the afternoon by the troops of 4 JAK LI. They challenged them some one kilometer inside Indian territory leading to a gun battle in which two Army men were injured. They injured identified as Vijay Sharma and Firasat Ali were removed to hospital for treatment.
The troops of 4- para were brought in for the operation to assist troops of 4 JAKLI and a massive operation was launched in the forests near the LoC in the area. Thick forest cover and rugged terrain gave natural cover to these infiltrators but after two days Army established contact with the group and engaged them and killed 5 of them. The operation is still in progress.
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