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| Security personnel near the encounter site in J&K’s Shopian district on Wednesday |
Two militants were killed in an encounter with security forces in south Kashmir’s Shopian district on Wednesday, officials said.
They said that a cordon and search operation was launched in the afternoon after getting information about the presence of militants in Chakura area of Shopian.
“A cordon was laid and contact was established. Firefight ensued. Two terrorists eliminated,” Chinar Corps said in a tweet.
The identity of the two slain militants was yet to be ascertained as the searches were still going on till the filing of this report.
The forces also recovered an AK weapon from the site, the army said.
Police in a tweet said that the militants were still unidentified.
This is the fifth encounter between terrorists and security forces in Kashmir so far this month. During this period, 12 militants were killed across the valley.
Foiled suspected LoC intrusion by Pak: Army
The army on Wednesday claimed to have foiled an intrusion by the members of Pakistan’s Border Action Team (BAT) on Line of Control (LoC) in north Kashmir’s Kupwara district.
Army’s Chinar Corps said the suspected BAT infiltration bid was blocked in Tangdhar sector of Kupwara.
“Today (Wednesday) early morning, alert troops observed suspicious activity by 3-4 intruders, close to forward post along LoC. The timely action averted the infiltration bid,” it said in a tweet.
The army has started more searches in the area. “Surveillance is under progress,” it said, but did not clarify what happened to the intruders.
As per the officials, BAT is a mix of regular Pakistani soldiers and militants who are known for attacks on the Indian Army on the border. Pakistan has always denied these allegations.
Arms recovered in Kupwara
On Tuesday, police said a joint party of the army and police recovered a large cache of arms and ammunition in the district’s Gundi Shath area. This included five pistols with 10 magazines, five grenades and 138 rounds of ammunition.
On October 10, the army had said that Pakistan tried to send weapons, including four AK-74 rifles and some magazines using a tube across the Kishanganga river in Keran sector of Kupwara.
GOC of army’s strategic Chinar Corps, Lt Gen B S Raju had said that not only militants but there are attempts to send weapons across the LoC and international border from Pakistan.
“The desire for Pakistan to push weapons is very much alive. It happened in Keran, Tangdhar, Jammu sector, and even Punjab. The motive to push weapons is to keep the people of Kashmir tangled so that terrorism remains here. We always try to stop this so that there is less damage here. We want help from the people to stop terrorism,” he had said.