Indian army says 5 militants killed on Kashmir LoC

SRINAGAR, Indian-controlled Kashmir, June 9 (Xinhua) — At least five militants were killed Friday in a gunfight near Line of Control (LoC), dividing Kashmir, officials said.

The gunfight, according to Indian army officials, broke out in Uri sector of frontier Baramulla district, about 110 km northwest of Srinagar city, the summer capital of Indian-controlled Kashmir.

Indian military spokesman Col Rajesh Kalia said the militants were trying to infiltrate deep inside Indian-controlled Kashmir.

“Today our alert troops foiled another infiltration bid in Uri sector,” Kalia told Xinhua. “While foiling the bid, five militants were killed.”

According to the spokesman, the operation was going on in the area.

“The suspicious movement was witnessed in the sector yesterday and today the contact was established, which resulted in an exchange of fire between our troops and the infiltrators,” Kalia said.

Reports said army has rushed additional reinforcements to the area and intensified search operations.

In the last two days, the army has killed seven militants – four in Machil and three in Nowgam of frontier Kupwara. A trooper was also killed in Nowgam sector fighting militants, the officials said.

Last month six militants were killed in Rampur sector of frontier Uri in adjacent Baramulla district.

Indian army said since the beginning of this year, 22 infiltration attempts were foiled and 34 armed intruders eliminated on the LoC.

The situation along LoC is tense since the beginning of May. Troops of India and Pakistan are currently at loggerheads with each other, especially along LoC and international border (IB) in Kashmir. Several ceasefire violations were reported on both the sides of LoC.

Kashmir, the Himalayan region divided between India and Pakistan, is claimed by both in full. Since their independence from Britain, the two countries have fought three wars, two exclusively over Kashmir. Enditem