J&K: Army foils infiltration bid along LoC, six militants killed

Srinagar: The Army on Sunday killed six militants and foiled an infiltration bid from across the Line of Control in Keran sector of Jammu and Kashmir’s Kupwara district.

This is the fourth clash in the frontier Kupwara district since the Centre announced conditional ceasefire for the Muslim fasting month of Ramzan in the state on May 16.

Giving details of Sunday’s incident, defence spokesman Colonel Rajesh Kalia said that the militants tried to sneak into Keran sector, 94 kilometres from Srinagar, after breaching the LoC on Sunday morning.

“Our jawans noticed suspicious movement along the LoC in Keran sector and challenged the infiltrators. In the ensuing exchange of fire six infiltrators were killed,” he said.

Two days ago, a soldier was killed and another was injured in an ambush at Keran. The security forces had been combing the sector since that ambush when they spotted the infiltrators on Sunday.

The authorities said that such situations and engagements with militants do not fall within the ambit of the conditional Ramzan truce as per which only anti-militancy operations have been suspended within the hinterland of J&K “to help the peace- loving Muslims observe Ramzan”.

In earlier clashes, 11 militants were killed at Shah Nagar Jat Gali (pass) in Handwara, Tanghdar and Machael sectors close to the de facto border on May 18, 26 and June 6, respectively.

Most of these militants were believed to be foreigners, except two of the five killed in Tanghdar whose bodies were exhu-med and handed over to their families from Pulwama and Kulgam.