3 militants killed as army foils infiltration bid in J&K

: The Army killed three militants while foiling two infiltration bids along the Line of Control (LoC) and International Border (IB) in Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday.

The infiltration attempts were made in Keran sector of Kupwara district and Akhnoor sector in Jammu district, army officials said.

Two militants were killed when they attempted to infiltrate from Kashmir side along the LoC in north Kashmir’s Keran sector in Kupwara on Tuesday, an army official said. “Two terrorists were killed while attempting to infiltrate. Operation in progress,” the spokesman said in a statement late Tuesday evening.

HEAVILY ARMED INTRUDER KILLED

The Army earlier on Tuesday killed a heavily armed Pakistani intruder in an encounter along the International Border in Akhnoor sector of Jammu district.

“In an encounter, a heavily armed Pakistani terrorist was eliminated in Akhnoor sector of the international boundary at 1350 hours (1.50 pm) on Tuesday,” said defence spokesperson Lt Col Devender Anand.

“The ambush party killed one terrorist and recovered war-like stores, which included five pistols, 10 pistol magazines, 60 bullets, an AK assault rifle, two AK rifle magazine with 234 rounds of ammunition, 15 hand grenades and 12 fuses for IEDs,” said Colonel Anand.

He added that the area was cordoned off and search and destroy operation was in progress.

The spokesperson claimed that recovery of huge cache scuttled plans of the terror outfits to disrupt the forthcoming panchayat elections in the state. “The timely intercept of the intrusion with the cache of arms, ammunition and other war-like stores thwarted any possible untoward incident planned by the terrorist during the scheduled elections in the state,” he said.

The infiltration bids come after three soldiers and an army porter were lost to Pakistani sniper attacks along the LoC in Jammu region since Friday.

In Kashmir division, since November 3, seven militants and a civilian have been killed in six encounters between militants and security forces.

On Friday, officials had said that Pakistani troops targeted Indian posts on the LoC in Tangdhar sector of Kupwara triggering an exchange of gunfire between the two armies.

There were no reports of any causality on the either side.

FIVE PISTOLS, 10 MAGAZINES, 15 HAND GRENADES, 60 BULLETS, AN AK ASSAULT RIFLE, 2 AK RIFLE MAGAZINES WITH 234 ROUNDS OF AMMUNITION AND 12 FUSES FOR IEDs RECOVERED