An army person takes position during an encounter with militants near the Line of Control in Uri sector of north Kashmir. (PTI Photo)
Text resize:AAA
JAMMU/SRINAGAR
: Foiling an infiltration bid, tTOI
Army on Monday gunned down a militant along the Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir.
A large quantity of weapons including AK-47 rifle and mines with Pakistan-marking were recovered from the slain terrorist.
According to Jammu-based defense spokesman Lt Col Manish Mehta, a group of militants tried to sneak into the Indian side along the LoC in Balnoie area of Mehndar tehsil early this morning. He said that the troops guarding the LoC challenged them resulting in an encounter in which one militant was killed.
READ ALSO: Kashmiri youths joining militancy; funds flow from Gulf
"The alert troops in an ambush laid along the Line of Control observed suspicious movement in the thickly wooded area on our side of LoC in the wee hours. The movement was confirmed through various night vision devices," Mehta said.
On being challenged the infiltrators fired at the army. "The troops retaliated and in the ensuing fire fight that lasted for a couple of hours, one terrorist was gunned down," he said.
READ ALSO: India blocks China's bid to save Pakistan on terror finance scrutiny
Mehta said that other infiltrators might have escaped towards Pakistan taking advantage of darkness and inclement weather conditions.
He said that a large quantity of weapons including AK -47 rifle, ammunition, radio sets and mines with Pakistani marking, mobile phones, credit cards and Indian and Pakistan currencies were recovered from the slain terrorist.
Army soldiers patrol the fenced area of the Line of Control on Tuesday April 28, 2015 in Forward Post in war range North West Kupwara. (PTI Photo)
"The recovery of Pakistan-marked mines clearly indicates the inimical designs to vitiate the peace on the Line of Control and hinterland," the army officer said.
He said that search of the area was still going on.
On Sunday, the security forces had foiled a major infiltration bid along the LoC in Kashmir, by killing three militants in Keran sector of Kupwara district.
Hizb militants post training video on FB
READ ALSO: 2 Hizbul militants killed, army major injured in Shopian encounter FB
Meanwhile, in another audacious move, the banned Hizbul Mujahideen uploaded a video of its militants training in army fatigues with assault rifles and cracking jokes on a social networking site, seen as a "psychological warfare" against the security forces.
The brazen display of nonchalance came within a fortnight the law enforcement agencies managing to remove still photos of the militants in battle gear from facebook, official sources said.
It is rare for the militants to expose their faces apprehending action by the security agencies.
The video shows 11 militants roaming in the orchards of Yaripora, a place located between Shopian and Kulgam in south Kashmir. They are seen loading their assault rifles and cracking jokes, sources said.
Analysts closely watching the situation in the Valley, feel the banned terror outfit was trying to engage in a "psychological warfare" by audaciously posting these pictures and videos to "break" the morale of the security agencies, which have launched fresh anti-militancy operations in south Kashmir after a brief lull.
The central security agencies have sought details from the social networking site of the Internet Protocol addresses from where the photos were uplinked and then deleted, official sources said. They, however, conceded the terror groups usually masked the IP addresses to avoid being tracked down.
Like in the pictures, the video shows an ex-constable of Jammu and Kashmir Police Naseer, who ran away with two AK-47 rifles while on guard duty with Altaf Bukhari, a Minister in the Mufti Sayeed-headed PDP-BJP government. Burhan Wani, a Tral resident, who has emerged as the young face of Hizbul Mujahideen in the Valley, also features in the video among others.
Images of Burhan and posts extolling him were uploaded on social networking sites like Facebook which the security agencies have got removed but that has not erased his popularity.
Young militant leaders like Burhan, who have been successful in recruiting even educated youth into the outfit, pose a fresh challenge to the security forces given their devil-may-care attitude reflected in the uploading of their photographs and video.
Bookmark or read stories offline - Download the TOI app
Another infiltration bid along LoC foiled; Hizbul militants post training video on FB - The Times of India
@Horus @nair @SpArK @Stealth @SarthakGanguly @GURU DUTT @Skull and Bones @levina @syedali73 @engineer saad