Two Army jawans were killed in a gunfight with infiltrators in the Keran sector in Kupwara district as the year continues to see a general spike in infiltration bids by militants.
The Army killed a militant in Keran, while a Hizbul Mujahideen militant was killed in an encounter in Pulwama, Lt-Col JS Brar, Srinagar-based Army spokesperson, said today. The martyred jawans are from 9 Rajput, but officials declined to identify them.
The operation in the Keran sector was still on in the evening while it was called off in Pulwama where two militants were believed to be hiding. The police identified killed militant as Rehman Gorsie, alias Aqib-ul-Islam, a battalion commander of the Hizbul Mujahideen.
The Army spokesperson told The tribune that the valley had seen 36 infiltration bids this year so far and out of which they foiled 22 bids, meaning the militants were either killed or pushed back, while all infiltrators in the rest were shot dead.
However, official sources said there were many more successful infiltration attempts by militants this year. Top Army officers had said on August 26 on the sidelines of an interaction with the media that the Kashmir valley had witnessed 69 successful infiltrations by militants. This number has only gone up since then. The figure for the last year was less than 50 for the whole state.
If police sources are to be believed, the number of militants, who have managed to sneak into the state this year, is well above 400, considerably higher than the average number of infiltrators annually. Though different security agencies, including the state police, have varying figures of infiltrators, there is unanimity among them about increase in their numbers.
They have attributed the increase in infiltrations to Pakistan’s strategy of pushing several groups of militants at once so that the chances of some of them being able to make it to the Indian side increase. The infiltration attempt by a 120-strong group of well-armed militants and porters, who were around 40 in numbers with rest being militants, through Kupwara and Gurez in early April was a case in point. Many of them were killed in encounters spanning over many days, but many also managed to reach this side.
The Army killed a militant in Keran, while a Hizbul Mujahideen militant was killed in an encounter in Pulwama, Lt-Col JS Brar, Srinagar-based Army spokesperson, said today. The martyred jawans are from 9 Rajput, but officials declined to identify them.
The operation in the Keran sector was still on in the evening while it was called off in Pulwama where two militants were believed to be hiding. The police identified killed militant as Rehman Gorsie, alias Aqib-ul-Islam, a battalion commander of the Hizbul Mujahideen.
The Army spokesperson told The tribune that the valley had seen 36 infiltration bids this year so far and out of which they foiled 22 bids, meaning the militants were either killed or pushed back, while all infiltrators in the rest were shot dead.
However, official sources said there were many more successful infiltration attempts by militants this year. Top Army officers had said on August 26 on the sidelines of an interaction with the media that the Kashmir valley had witnessed 69 successful infiltrations by militants. This number has only gone up since then. The figure for the last year was less than 50 for the whole state.
If police sources are to be believed, the number of militants, who have managed to sneak into the state this year, is well above 400, considerably higher than the average number of infiltrators annually. Though different security agencies, including the state police, have varying figures of infiltrators, there is unanimity among them about increase in their numbers.
They have attributed the increase in infiltrations to Pakistan’s strategy of pushing several groups of militants at once so that the chances of some of them being able to make it to the Indian side increase. The infiltration attempt by a 120-strong group of well-armed militants and porters, who were around 40 in numbers with rest being militants, through Kupwara and Gurez in early April was a case in point. Many of them were killed in encounters spanning over many days, but many also managed to reach this side.
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