Soldier killed, another injured in attack on patrol along LoC
TARGETED Kupwara attack comes on a day when the Union home minister is on a twoday visit to J&K
SRINAGAR: A soldier was killed and another injured in a militant attack on an army patrol near the Line of Control (LoC) in Keran sector of Kupwara district of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) on Thursday.
The attack comes on a day when Union home minister Rajnath Singh is in Kashmir on a two-day visit to review the security situation in the Valley and on the LoC.
Officials said militants attacked the army patrol near the LoC fencing in Keran sector.
Two soldiers were injured in the incident, which was retaliated to by Army personnel, said defence spokesman Colonel Rajesh Kalia.
However, later it was learnt through sources that one of the injured soldier succumbed to his injuries at the Base Hospital in Srinagar.
The army, meanwhile, has not revealed if it was a hit-andrun attack or if the infiltrators had targeted the regular army patrol close to the LoC fence.
Since the unilateral Ramzan ceasefire was announced by the Centre last month, there have been at least three big encounters near the LoC in Kupwara sector in which 10 militants have been killed so far.
Earlier, army had said all the militants killed were foreigners, however, later two turned out to be youngsters from Pulwama district whose bodies were exhumed on Wednesday and handed over to their families.
Recently, Brigadier PK Mishra, commander Tangdhar Brigade, had revealed that the army has strong intelligence inputs that many infiltrators are waiting at the launching pads close to the Line of Control.
“There are many groups of
infiltrators who are waiting for an opportunity to infiltrate. This group even sneaked close to the Pakistani post,’’ the officer said.
After the fresh infiltration,
Army has stepped up vigil along the LoC especially in Kupwara sector. Meanwhile, a militant attempt to loot the cash van of J&K bank was foiled by alert jawans in south Kashmir.