JOIN USInfiltration bid: Army’s combing operation continues along LoC in Uri
A massive operation launched by the Army along the Line of Control (LoC) in the Uri sector of north Kashmir’s Baramulla district to flush out a newly-infiltrated group of militants continued for the second day on Tuesday with mobile and internet services being snapped in the area.
The Army launched the combing operation after detection of suspicious movement along the LoC on the night of September 18, coinciding with the fifth anniversary of the Uri attack in which 19 soldiers were killed after two suicide attackers stormed a military installation in 2016.
Sources said a group of six to eight militants infiltrated into the Gohalan area of Uri. “As soon as the Army got a clue about the infiltration, they rushed to the area and during a brief gun battle one soldier was injured. Four to six infiltrating militants may have fled to Pakistan and two are probably hiding in the area,” they said.
Reports said that reinforcements including Special Forces have been sent to the area with internet, landline, and mobile phone services suspended in Uri. This is for the first time that mobile and internet services were snapped in the wake of a cross-border infiltration attempt.
General officer Commanding (GoC) of Srinagar-based 15 Corps Lieutenant General D P Pandey on Monday said that only two successful infiltration bids were reported along the LoC this year. “One group was neutralised in Bandipora district, and we are looking for the second one, which has been successful”, he told reporters.
While in recent years most of the local youths who join militant ranks are trained locally, those who infiltrate from across the border are mostly Pakistanis. According to official figures, there are about 50 to 60 Pakistani militants active in Kashmir.
Most of the Pakistani militants are active in the north Kashmir districts of Baramulla, Bandipora and Kupwara that share the border with Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (PoK).
While dismissing the apprehensions of Pakistani militant build-up in north Kashmir with the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, a senior police officer said, “Most of the Pakistani militants who are active in Kashmir, had infiltrated long before the Taliban takeover of Kabul.”
He said that last year 32 Pakistani militants were killed in Kashmir while this year the number is just 10 so far.
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