Army guns down 11 terrorists near LoC

Eleven terrorists were killed on Wednesday as the India Army foiled a major infiltration bid in a three-day long operation near the Line of Control in Kupwara district of Jammu and Kashmir, a defence spokesman said.

A Junior Commissioned Officer was also killed in the gun battle, which broke out in Karnah sector in north Kashmir on Monday morning when troops confronted a large group of terrorists trying to sneak into this side from across the border, the spokesman said.

Eight of the infiltrators were killed at Nasthachun Pass on Wednesday, raising the number of terrorists killed in the operation to eleven, the spokesman said, adding three terrorists and the JCO were killed on Tuesday.

Official sources said troops guarding the LoC observed a large group of heavily-armed intruders in the Roshni post area and confronted them in the wee hours on Monday.

However, the terrorists refused to surrender and opened fire on the troops and fled into nearby forests, prompting the army to launch a massive operation to track them down, the sources said.

Yesterday, troops confronted the infiltrators in the woods and in the ensuing shootout, three terrorists and a JCO were killed, the sources said.

The operation to track down other militants continued and success was achieved on Wednesday when eight more infiltrators fell to the bullets of the troops.

A huge cache of arms, ammunition and explosives were recovered from the possession of the slain terrorists, the sources said.

The spokesman said the operation in the forests near the pass was still continuing.

This was the first major infiltration bid by terrorists this year wherein such a large number of heavily-armed terrorists attempted to sneak into the Valley.

Infiltration of terrorists from across the border has been going on, but they usually come in small groups, the sources said.