Soldier, militant killed as army foils infiltration bid along LoC

SRINAGAR: NOVEMBER HAS BEEN PARTICULARLY VIOLENT. AT LEAST 21 MILITANTS AND EIGHT SECURITY FORCES PERSONNEL HAVE BEEN KILLED

THIS MONTH IN

VARIOUS GUNFIGHTS IN KASHMIR SO FAR

A soldier and a militant were killed as security forces foiled an infiltration bid on the Line of Control (LoC) in north Kashmir, army officials said.

So far, 21 militants and eight security forces personnel have been killed in 11 encounters this month.

They said that soldiers thwarted the bid by militants to enter Kashmir in the Keran sector of Kupwara district.

“A terrorist was killed and a soldier has been martyred. Two soldiers were injured as well,” army spokesperson, Rajesh Kalia, said on Wednesday.

The spokesperson said that search operations were still in progress.

November has been particularly violent. At least 21 militants and eight security forces personnel have been killed this month in various gunfights so far.

Of the eight security forces personnel killed, six are army men, one is an air force commando, and one a police officer.

This year, the security forces have killed many top-notch militant commanders, including Lashkar-e-Taiba’s (LeT) Abu Dujana, Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) chief Masood Azhar’s nephew Tallah Rashid, JeM’s Mehmood Bhai, LeT’s Waseem Shah as well as Sabzar Ahmad Bhat, who succeeded Burhan Wani as the chief of Kashmir Hizbul.

On November 19, army’s 15 corps commander JS Sandhu revealed that 190 militants have been killed this year so far.

Out of these, 80 were local and the rest were foreign terrorists. Out of the 110 foreign terrorists, 66 were killed while infiltrating near the LoC.