Army foils 3 infiltration bids in Kashmir, kills 4 militants near LOC

Srinargar: The Army foiled three infiltration bids from across the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir after killing four militants. This was the highest number of attempted ingress reported in one day from Tanghdar, Nowgam and Gurez sectors of Kupwara and Bandipore districts in recent months.

Separately, three militants and a policeman were killed in a firefight in an area of Poonch district which is also close to the de facto border, officials said.

Army sources here said a heavily-armed group of militants had slipped into the Nowgam sector of Kupwara early on Sunday but when challenged, it opened fire at Indian forces, triggering a fierce encounter in which four militants have been killed, so far.

“The encounter started after own alert troops intercepted the terrorists’ group. Four AK-47 rifles and a large cache of ammunition and other war-like stores were found on the slain men believed to be foreign terrorists,” the sources said.

A defence spokesman here added that the Army troops noticed some suspicious movement near the 12-feet-high fence along the LoC in Nowgam sector and challenged the intruders. “The infiltrating terrorists opened fire towards them and they (troops) quickly and effectively retaliated,” the spokesman said.

Similar attempts were foiled by Army troops in neighbouring Tangdhar and in Bandipore.