In what appears to be the Army’s surgical response to a sustained drive of infiltration from across the LoC in Kupwara district, four more suspected militants of Lashkar-e-Toiba are claimed to have died in Hafruda forest on Thursday. With this particular operation, the number of fresh infiltrators killed in different encounters since Monday has reached twelve.
Defence sources told The Hindu that four suspected militants of LeT, believed to have infiltrated through the Shamsbari Mountains, got killed in a fresh operation in the last 24 hours. Sources said that the operation was still underway as two to three militants of the group were suspected to have escaped and could be hiding in the dense forest area. Three soldiers sustained injuries, One of them was reportedly critical.
Sources said that on last Monday, four militants had died when Army foiled a major infiltration attempt on the LoC in Kupwara district. Next day four militants got killed in two simultaneous operations in Machhil sector. In the following operation on Wednesday and Thursday, four more militants died in a fierce encounter with the Army in Machhil sector.
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“It indicates a marked increase in the infiltration attempts as 12 militants have not died in a week anywhere in Kashmir of Jammu in the last several years”, said an official. He said that General Officer Commanding 15 Coorps, Lt Gen Gurmit Singh, would reveal more details at a news briefing in Srinagar in the evening.