The Army on Thursday foiled a major infiltration bid in Hathlanga forest area of Uri in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district and killed three heavily armed terrorists.
A cache of arms, ammunition and Pakistani and Indian currency has been recovered from them.
Addressing a joint press conference by GoC 15 Corps Lieutenant General DP Pandey and IGP Kashmir Vijay Kumar, the former said that today’s infiltration attempt was the second since 18 September.
“Today morning, alert troops spotted a group of infiltrators in the Uri sector. They were challenged and three terrorists were killed in gunfight. Two terrorists managed to escape back to Pakistan occupied Kashmir”.
A cache of arms and ammunition, including five AK-47 rifles, seven pistols, 5 AK magazines, 24 UBGl grenades, 38 Chinese grenades, seven Pakistan made grenades, Rs 35,000 Pakistani currency and some edibles, were recovered from the terrorists.
One slain terrorist has been identified as a Pakistani resident. The GOC said Army is alert and we were anticipating the change in the behaviour of Pakistan in the month of September and expecting infiltration ahead of the onset of winter.
Speaking on the occasion, IGP Kashmir Vijay Kumar said that there is a change in strategy from across the LoC. “Now, there is a new trend of Hybrid and part time terrorists, who are being given pistols to carry out target killings during evening hours and then they resume normal activities after the day,” the IGP said.
He said this year so far 97 pistols have been recovered from terrorists, which signifies “hybrid militants are being promoted” to target unarmed policemen, civilians and political leaders.