‘Pak’s bid to disrupt Amarnath Yatra foiled’

JAMMU: The Border Security Force (BSF) on Thursday said it has foiled the Pakistan-based terrorists’ attempts to disrupt the upcoming Amarnath yatra by detecting a cross-border tunnel along the International Border (IB) in Jammu and Kashmir’s Samba.

During the ongoing anti-tunneling operation, BSF troops dugout and detected 265ft-long oxygen pipes along the IB, officials said, adding alert has been sounded in the Jammu region following the discovery.

“There were inputs (of infiltration) during the PM’S visit,” IG of BSF, Jammu Frontier, DK Boora told reporters here.

“We got success yesterday at 5.30 pm. We detected a tunnel and it had green sand bags beside it. It was 150-metre long. From inside up to the fence, it measured 100 metres and from there it was 50 metres. We got its opening in a forested area,” he said.

“It seems that it is a new tunnel. We are trying to investigate its link to the Sunjuwan attack as we apprehend that they (terrorists) may have crossed via this tunnel. It is an assumption. We have no evidence -- oral or digital -- so far,” he added. “With the detection of this tunnel, the BSF Jammu has foiled the nefarious designs of Pakistan-based terrorists to disrupt the upcoming Amarnath yatra,” DIG SPS Sandhu said.