Srinagar, Aug 29 (KNO): Security agencies have been actively tackling infiltration attempts along the Line of Control (LoC) to prevent terrorists from disturbing the peace in the Kashmir Valley, officials said. So far this year, around ten foreign terrorists have been killed in Kupwara, a frontier district in the valley.
On Thursday, security forces recovered the bodies of three infiltrators killed in joint operations launched on the night of August 28-29 in the Machhil and Tangdhar areas of Kupwara.
These operations were carried out by joint teams of the Indian Army and Jammu & Kashmir Police based on specific intelligence about infiltration attempts, an official informed the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO).
In the Machhil operation, two terrorists were killed, and security forces recovered two AK-series rifles, one pistol, four hand grenades and other war-like stores, he said, adding that in the Tangdhar operation, one terrorist was killed, and another was injured. The operation in Tangdhar is still ongoing.
"This marks the sixth operation in Kupwara district this year, bringing the total number of terrorists killed to ten—all of whom were foreign terrorists," officials added.
During a joint press conference at the 28 Infantry Division, H K Dhankhar, Commanding Officer of the 53 Rashtriya Rifles, along with Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Kupwara, Shobhit Saxena, said that intelligence inputs indicated infiltration attempts by terrorists over the past few days.
Dhankhar said, "We received intelligence that terrorists were attempting to infiltrate along the LoC. On August 28, we obtained specific information about infiltration attempts in Tangdhar and Machhil, corroborated by the Jammu & Kashmir Police."
Acting on this information, joint teams comprising the Indian Army, Jammu and Kashmir Police, and BSF set up ambushes along the infiltration routes, he said.
"Around 8 om, an exchange of fire took place between terrorists and security forces in Machhil, followed by another exchange in Tangdhar around 9 pm. In the ensuing operations, two terrorists were killed in Machhil and one in Tangdhar, with another terrorist injured in the Tangdhar encounter," he added.
The Commanding Officer congratulated the security forces on the successful operations, saying, "Despite unfavourable weather conditions, the operations were successful. I congratulate the security forces and assure you that our security agencies are committed to ensuring peace in Jammu & Kashmir."—(KNO)