Baramulla: An infiltration bid was foiled along the Line of Control (LoC) in frontier Hathlanga area of Uri sector in Baramulla district and three infiltrators killed, officials said Saturday.
“Pakistan Army gave cover fire to infiltrating terrorists and targeted quadcopters of the Indian Army during a bid to cross the Line of Control in Baramulla district of north Kashmir on Saturday that was foiled with the killing of three terrorists,” they said.
Commander of Army’s 161 Pir Panjal Brigade Uri, Brigadier PMS Dhillon flanked by DIG North Kashmir Vivek Gupta and Commanding Officer 5 JAK Rifles while addressing a press conference at 19 Infantry Division headquarters at Baramulla, said that based on specific intelligence inputs, the security forces launched a coordinated operation to intercept the infiltration attempt in the Hathlanga forward area of Uri. At 6:45 am, as the troops spotted the infiltrators, a fierce gunfight ensued when the terrorists opened fire on the Army.
The officer said the army used under-barrel grenade launchers (UBGL), multi-grenade launchers (MGL), and rocket launchers to neutralise the terrorists.
“One terrorist was neutralised. The ambush party then realised that two injured terrorists had changed their location. The ambush party then got into a second firefight with them at around 9.15 am which continued for about half-an-hour and resulted in the neutralisation of the second terrorist,” he said.
Brigadier Dhillon said the third injured terrorist “exfiltrated” with the help of firing from a nearby Pakistani post.
“The Pakistani Army post gave fire support for his exfiltration and fired towards us. They fired on our quadcopters as well. According to our estimate, the injured terrorist succumbed about 300 metres from the Pakistani post, in the general area. The weather is very bad, but the search continues in the area,” he said.
The officer said three terrorists from Pakistan have been neutralised in the operation and the bodies of the two have been retrieved.
“This shows how the Pakistan Army backs terrorists and lends them full support to infiltrate. It also establishes how the Pakistan Army is involved in destabilising peace in Kashmir,” he said.
The security forces also recovered an AK-47 and AK-74 rifle, seven magazines, a five-kg IED, some ammunition, a Chinese pistol and some grenades along with Indian and Pakistani currency from the terrorists.
“We think they wanted to use the IED at some sensitive target, including minority pockets or security forces’ establishment,” Dhillon said.
The infiltration bid and the subsequent encounter comes at a time when an operation is underway in Anantnag district to neutralise terrorists who have taken positions in the forest area in a hilly terrain. The gunfight entered its fourth day on Saturday. (With additional inputs from PTI)
