Army foils infiltration attempt along LoC in J-K’s Poonch, two terrorists killed

Alert troops on Monday foiled an infiltration bid by killing two Pakistani terrorists along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district, the Army said.

The bodies of the slain terrorists could not be retrieved as they managed to flee across the Line of Control (LoC) before succumbing to their injuries, suffered during a gunfight with the Army, according to an Indian Army spokesperson.

One AK-47 rifle, two magazines, 30 rounds, two hand grenades and some medicines of Pakistani origin were recovered from the scene of the gunfight in the Balakote sector, he said.

Lt Col Suneel Bartwal, a Jammu-based defence PRO, said, "Intelligence inputs received from multiple agencies and police revealed the presence of terrorists waiting to cross the LoC from opposite own Balakote sector. Based on these inputs, own surveillance grid was placed on heightened alert and multiple ambushes were sited at suitable location."

He said the alert troops detected the two Pakistani terrorists attempting to cross the LoC into the Indian side, taking advantage of the inclement weather, dense fog, thick foliage and undulating grounds in the Hamirpur area of Balakote early on Monday.

"As the terrorists approached own ambush sites, they were challenged and then engaged with effective fire. This forced the terrorists to flee from the ambush site by making use of the weather and ground conditions," Lt Col Bartwal said.

He further said, "However, effective fire resulted in one terrorist falling down on the ground near the LoC. Additional troops were then moved into the area and search operations commenced in the afternoon after improvement of weather conditions and visibility."

A search of the area led to the recovery of an AK-47 rifle with two magazines, 30 rounds, two grenades and medicines of Pakistani origin.

"During the search, blood trails leading towards the LoC were also detected," he said and added, "As per intelligence inputs, the two terrorists who attempted to infiltrate were injured but still managed to return across the LoC and later succumbed."

Lt Col Bartwal said the Indian troops continue to remain on alert and maintain vigil to foil any infiltration attempts from across the border.

This was the second infiltration bid that the Army has scuttled along the LoC in Poonch this month.

On August 7, a self-styled divisional commander of the Hizbul Mujahideen and his bodyguard were killed when they attempted to infiltrate into the Indian side to revive the activities of the proscribed outfit in the district.

While the body of Muneser Hussain, the Hizbul commander, was retrieved along with a huge cache of arms and ammunition, that of his bodyguard could not be recovered as he managed to return to the other side of the LoC in the Degwar sector.