3 terrorists gunned down in gunfight along LoC in Kupwara
In one of the major anti-infiltration operations in the last seven months, three heavily-armed terrorists were gunned down during a fierce gunfight while four soldiers, including an officer of the Indian Army, lost their lives in the line of duty in Machil sector of North Kashmir’s Kupwara district on Sunday.
The icy heights of Keran sector in North Kashmir’s Kupwara district had earlier witnessed a hand-to-hand combat on April 5 when elite para commandos eliminated five terrorists in one of the deadliest operations. All five commandos also laid down their lives while foiling the infiltration bid.
Late on Saturday night, the anti-infiltration operation was launched while the terrorists attempted to breach the Anti Infiltration Obstacle system (AIOS) along the Line of Control (LoC) in a desperate bid to infiltrate inside the Indian territory ahead of the closing down of the mountain passes due to fresh snowfall in the higher reaches of North Kashmir. According to the recent assessment of the various intelligence agencies around 200-250 terrorists were waiting across different launch pads to infiltrate inside the Indian territory before the peak winters set in the coming weeks.
Around 1 am, a patrol party of the Border Security Force (BSF) first noticed the suspicious movements near the LoC and challenged the intruders, leading to a three-hour gun-battle in which a terrorist was eliminated. One BSF constable was also killed in action.
Confirming the sequence of events a Srinagar-based defence spokesperson Col Rajesh Kalia in a written statement said, “At about 1 am, a BSF patrol noticed suspicious movement near the Anti-Infiltration Obstacle System (LoC fence), 3.5 km from the LoC. The BSF personnel challenged the infiltrators and a gunbattle ensued, in which a terrorist was killed,” he said.
“A BSF soldier was killed in action (KIA) and the firefight stopped,” Col Kalia said in a statement.
He said more troops were rushed to the area and the movement of the terrorists was tracked with the help of surveillance devices.
“Contact was re-established at 10.20 am when heavy fire was drawn by own search parties approximately 1.5 km from the LoC.
“In the ensuing firefight, two more terrorists were killed. Own troops suffered three KIA and two injured,” Col Kalia said.
He added that the injured soldiers have been evacuated. The operation is in progress and further details are awaited, the spokesperson said.
This year, till date, more than 210 terrorists have been neutralised by the joint teams of security forces in the hinterland and along the LoC. Pakistani forces have also carried out more than 3,800 unprovoked ceasefire violations to disturb the peace in the region.
To keep the terror pot boiling, the terrorist handlers sitting in Pakistan have also started using drones and quadcopters for smuggling of arms and narcotic substances across the International Border (IB) and the LoC.
