3 militants, soldier killed in LoC encounter

Three militants and a soldier were killed in an encounter as the army foiled a second infiltration bid along the Line of Control (LoC) in north Kashmir's Kupwara district on Thursday.

Sources said the army’s 4/1 GR and 20 Dogra on Wednesday night noticed a group of militants along the LoC fence near Pika 1 and Pika 2 posts at Nowgam after which they were challenged. The militants then opened fire which was retaliated, they said.

The intermittent firing continued till Thursday morning, in which three militants and a soldier were killed while a trooper was injured, sources said. The slain trooper is Rifleman Rara Bahadur Ruka and the injured is identified as Naik Jeet Bahadur Tahapa.

An army official said the infiltrating militants were given cover fire by the Pakistan army.  The Indian Army has recovered bodies of all the slain militants along with some arms and ammunition.

In a separate incident, two soldiers were injured in a militant attack near the LoC in Uri sector of Baramulla district late on Wednesday. Police sources said the soldiers of 4 JAKLI came under fire from militants near Kikkar Post and Anil Post at Gohalta Top as they were concluding a search operation in the area. Two soldiers, Farhat Ali and Sepoy Vijay Sharma, were injured.

In 2015, militants made 28 infiltration attempts along the LoC, while last year, the number rose to 88. A total of 59 army personnel lost their lives in counter-terror operations in Jammu and Kashmir since 2016, as per records.
DH News Service