Army foils infiltration bid in Kupwara; militant killed

An unidentified militant was on Saturday killed as security forces scuttled a major infiltration bid in Machil sector of north Kashmir’s Kupwara district, Army said. Alert troops noticed a group of militants trying to sneak into this side from across the Line of Control (LoC) at Sardari Nar in Machil sector in the wee hours, a senior Army officer said.

He said the troops challenged the militants who resorted to indiscriminate firing. The troops returned the fire and in the ensuing gun battle, a militant was killed, the officer said adding the body of the deceased along with an assault rifle and some ammunition was recovered from the scene of the encounter.

He said the identity and group affiliation of the slain militant is awaited as reinforcements have been rushed to the area and a search operation was going on to track down other members of the infiltrating column.

Meanwhle, a Pakistani militant was killed and five policemen sustained injuries in a blast that took place inside a police vehicle which was escorting the undertrial in Sopore town of North Kashmir on Saturday. The prisoner, Wahid Noor Khan, was being escorted to Central Jail?Srinagar, police sources said. He died due to some explosion inside the police vehicle, they said. Khan was arrested in connection with a militancy-related case of 2010 and was scheduled to appear before a Sessions court in Sopore.