Srinagar: Atleast three militants were killed as Indian army foiled an infiltration bid along the Line of Control (LoC) in Macchil sector of north Kashmir’s Kupwara district on Wednesday.Sources said on the intervening night of Tuesday and Wednesday troops guarding the LoC noticed movement of a heavily armed group of militants trying to infiltrate into Indian territory under the cover of darkness in Macchil sector.”As the troops challenged the infiltrators, they opened fire and tried to hide in nearby Sardari Nad forests. The army tightened to cordon around the area and in the morning a massive search operation was launched and contact was established with the hiding militants,” they said and added that three militants have been killed in the ongoing encounter so far.Sources said the operation is still underway as additional reinforcement from other army units have been rushed to the area and vast forest area has been cordoned of.Earlier on May 27, six militants were killed after army foiled a major infiltration bid along the LoC in Uri sector of Baramulla district.Similarly, on May 21, four militants and three soldiers were killed in a fierce encounter along the LoC in the Nowgam sector of Kupwara.The Indian Army on May 23 had released a video of “punitive fire assaults” on Pakistani positions across the LoC , inflicting some damage. In response, Pakistan had also released a video showing attacks by its army on Indian posts along the LoC.Sources told that with the active help of Pakistan army, more than a dozen groups of militants have become active across the LoC opposite twin border districts of Rajouri and Poonch in Jammu region and Kupwara and Baramulla district of Kashmir valley with a view to infiltrate into the State to create disturbances.“The groups of militants who are waiting to infiltrate belong to Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT), Hizbul Mujahideen and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) outfits. Some of the militant commanders of these three outfits are also active across the LoC to facilitate infiltration attempts by the militants,” they said.“There is pressure on militants waiting on launching pads to infiltrate due to depleting number of militants in the State in view of successes achieved by security forces,” sources said and added that the Army has enhanced its capability and boosted its strategy to check the infiltration attempts on the LoC.A senior army official said as snow has already started melting, militants and their handlers across the border are making increasing attempts to infiltrate. “However, counter infiltration grid – including sophisticated gadgets – have been activated along the LoC to foil infiltration bids, and vigil on all routes, which are prone to infiltration, has been intensified,’ he said.
