One suspected militant was killed during an exchange of fire as the Army foiled an alleged infiltration bid along the Line of Control in Gurez sector of Bandipora district in Kashmir on Saturday, a defence official told PTI. A weapon has also been recovered from the unidentified man, reported The Indian Express. The operation is still underway.
With this, at least 14 suspected militants have been killed in separate encounters along the LoC in north Kashmir in the last four days, according to PTI. While seven militants were gunned down in four different infiltration attempts at Machhil and Naugam sectors in Kupwara district, Gurez in Bandipora district and Uri in Baramulla, six more were killed in Uri on Friday. The Army has foiled as many as eight alleged infiltration bids in less than two weeks. One soldier has also lost his life in one an encounter on Thursday.
The Indian Army has also claimed it has faced continued ceasefire violations by Pakistan at the LoC, the de-facto border separating India and Pakistan. On Thursday, Army chief Bipin Rawat had said that the situation in Kashmir would normalise soon, and claimed Pakistan was using social media to stoke unrest in the Valley.
Kashmir has been on the boil after Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani was killed by Indian security forces on July 8 last year. A fresh round of streets protests, including stone pelting against security forces during their operations against militants, had begun last month.
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