Two soldiers, two militants killed near LoC

Two soldiers and two militants were killed as troops foiled an infiltration bid along the Line of Control (LoC) in Nowgam sector of north Kashmir’s Kupwara district on Saturday.

Sources said a suspicious movement was observed by the army along the LoC in Nowgam sector, 90 km from here, and an operation was launched. “As a group of heavily armed militants was attempting to infiltrate, the troops challenged them.

The terrorists responded with heavy fire and in the ensuing fire fight two troopers were killed while army neutralized equal number of infiltrating militants,” they said and  the area has been cordoned off as the operation was in progress.

“It was not clear whether other militants had fled back to Pakistani side or were still hiding in the area. There could be four to five militants hiding in nearby forest area and Army has sent reinforcement to block all the escape routes for the infiltrators,” sources said.

The Army confirmed the death of two militants and two soldiers in the encounter. Defence Spokesman Colonel Rajesh Kalia said the encounter is going on. The identity of the slain militants and soldiers could not be established immediately.

With security forces grappling to control frenzy stone pelting youths in Kashmir Valley for the last few weeks, militant groups across the LoC are taking advantage of it and trying to make infiltration attempts in different sectors along the border, sources said.

A senior Army officer said dozens of new launching pads have been activated by Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) and Hizb-ul-Mujahideen across the LoC and they are making all the effort to push militants inside the Indian territory with the onset of summer. “After the melting of snow on the LoC in summer, the militants try to make most of the difficult terrain by sneaking in the Kashmir valley. With summer already setting in, the militants have found different ways of entering the valley from Kupwara to Baramulla,” he said.

“However, well aware of the new strategy put in place by the LeT and HM, troops have strengthened anti-infiltration grid. There is possibility of more encounters along the LoC in coming weeks,” the officer added.