Uri attack: 10 terrorists killed as Army foils infiltration bids; 1 jawan dies

Army foils two infiltration bids; Pakistan violates ceasefire.

The Indian Army on Tuesday foiled two infiltration bids from across the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir in which about 10 alleged terrorists and a jawan were killed. Gun-battles were on between the alleged terrorists and security forces in both encounters in Uri and Nowgam sectors, which are about 100 km apart.

In the fire-fight that began on Tuesday afternoon in Uri sector, eight to ten militants were gunned down by Army troops. And in the encounter in Nowgam sector of neighbouring Kupwara district, one soldier had been killed till reports last came in.

Both these clashes came a few hours after the Army said that the Pakistani troops violated ceasefire along the LoC by targeting Indian forwards positions with small arms in Uri sector.

No casualties were reported in the Pakistani firing, said defence spokesman Colonel Rajesh Kalia here.

Pakistan was quick to deny the charge. In Islamabad, foreign office spokesperson Nafees Zakaria said, “There seems to be some activity across the border but there has been no activity from our side, not one shot fired from here.”

Col. Kalia, when asked if the alleged violation of the November 2003 ceasefire agreement was aimed at giving firing cover to the infiltrating militants by Pakistani troops in Uri sector, said the picture would be clear after the operations are over.

Regarding the fire fight underway in Uri, he said that the alert Army troops intercepted a large group of militants soon after they sneaked into Jammu and Kashmir from Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir after breaching the border fence.

Army sources said that there were 12-15 heavily armed militants in the group which was challenged by the troops 10 Dogra regiment and 17 JAK Rifles leading to the gun-battle.

In Nowgam sector, the defence spokesman said, one Army jawan was killed in a fierce encounter on Tuesday evening. On Monday, the gunmen had targeted a police station in the area with rifle fire following which Army troops and members of the J&K police’s counterinsurgency Special Operations Group (SoG) moved in to start searches.

The infiltration bids and the ceasefire violation come barely two days after four militants mounted a deadly terror attack at the Army’s 12 Infantry Brigade on the peripheries of Uri town in which 18 jawans were killed and over 20 more wounded on Sunday.

The Army said that earlier on Tuesday morning, Pakistani troops violated ceasefire and fired incessantly at Indian posts in Uri for nearly 20 minutes. “No damage was caused to Indian posts. The fire was returned,” the Army said but gave no further details.

Reports from Uri said that the firing took place in the close vicinity of Mahiyan village where a gun-battle broke out between militants and Army troops. The residents of Mahiyan when contacted over the phone said that they could hear intermittent firing but since they were confined to their homes they couldn’t say who was firing at whom”.

This is the third ceasefire violation along the LoC in the past three weeks. On September 6, the Pakistani troops were accused of firing small arms and mortars to target the Indian positions and forward posts in Shahpur Kandi area along the de facto border Poonch sector. The Indian troops had retaliated by opening fire with comparable weapons but there were no casualties or damage caused to either side. Earlier on September 2, Pakistani troops had violated ceasefire by firing on forward Army posts along LoC in Akhnoor sector in Jammu district. However, militant outfit Hizb-ul-Mujahedin had claimed that it were its cadres who had attacked the Indian troops in the area.

Meanwhile, the Western Army Commander Lt. Gen. Surinder Singh, on Tuesday visited border areas of Jammu, Samba and Kathua and emphasised on the need to ensure high degree of alertness. During his visit, he took stock of the security apparatus in the sensitive areas and complimented all in successfully maintaining a high state of vigil, said a defence release.

It added that the Army Commander reviewed the deployment in the entire region and appreciated efforts being made by all the security agencies to enhance the levels of preparedness. He also stressed upon the need to coordinate the intelligence network of all agencies in the region so that prompt actions can be undertaken to defeat the nefarious designs of adversary. End it

The predawn ambush on Sunday in the highly militarised Uri area has sharply increased tensions between India and Pakistan. While New Delhi, after blaming Pakistan for the attack, said it will keep all its options open for response, Islamabad alleged that India is trying to divert world attention from the “grim tragedy” that has been unfolding in Kashmir Valley over the past over 10 weeks.