Army foils 2 infiltration bids in J&K; 8-10 terrorists killed

1 Soldier Dies In Gunfight At Naugam

The Army thwarted two major infiltration bids in the Uri and Naugam sectors of Jammu & Kashmir on Tuesday , even as it further cranked up its operational readiness all along the 778-km Line of Control (LoC) to take care of any contingency in the coming days.

According to reports from Srinagar, 8-10 terrorists were eliminated during fierce encounters at the two locations of the restive state, but Army officers in New Delhi said that it “was not possible“ to specify the number of infiltrators killed as the operations were still in progress.

“In the Uri encounter, there were initial reports of some bodies of terrorists being spotted before night fell but nothing can be confirmed as of now. One of our soldiers laid down his life in the encounter in the Neeriyan forest area in Naugam,“ said a senior Army officer. The two infiltration bids witnessed fierce gun fights, with the first one involving as many as 10-15 terrorists trying to sneak across the border near Lachipora in Uri sector in the afternoon.“Reacting to the suspicious movement, our troops intercepted the group of terrorists near the LoC. Pakistani troops also violated the ceasefire by using small arms to fire at our forward posts at Kamalkote in the Uri sector... we retaliated,“ a senior officer said.

The Uri encounter took place around 12km from the Army's administrative camp which was stormed by four heavily-armed Jaish-e-Mohammed fidayeen on Sunday , leading to the death of 18 soldiers and injuries to over 20 others before the terroristswere gunned down. The two encounters pointed to the “upgrade of the operational posture“ all along the LoC in the wake of the terror attack on Uri to ensure Army battalions and artillery units are “fully ready to respond at extremely short notice for a variety of punitive actions“, said sources.

The step-up coincides with reports about the government considering surgical strikes across the border to avenge the deaths in Uri and amid estimates that Pakistan may respond to any Indian retaliation by pushing more terrorists.

NIA files case to probe Uri attack:

The NIA registered a case on Tuesday to probe the Uri terror attack in which 18 soldiers were killed after four Pakistani militants stormed the base. The NIA took over the investigation from the J&K police, which had registered a case on Sunday , and began the probe. Sources said the NIA team will collect DNA samples of the four unidentified terrorists and their pictures would be shown to Jaish cadres lodged in various jails.

(TOI)