Srinagar, July 27: A junior commissioned officer was killed and two jawans were injured in a gunfight with militants at the Line of Control the very morning foreign ministers of India and Pakistan met in New Delhi to discuss confidence-building measures.
The encounter in the Machil sector of Kupwara began early in the day and, according to the defence spokesperson, it was continuing in the evening.
Defence spokesperson Lt Colonel J.S. Brar said the gunfight left JCO Amar Singh from the 57 Rashtriya Rifles dead and two jawans — Narender Kumar and Mahinder Singh — injured.
Sources said a group of militants crossed over to the Indian side of the LoC and were asked to surrender by the troops who had laid an ambush. But the infiltrators opened fire. “The gunfight is continuing,” Brar said.
The two injured soldiers have been shifted to the 92 base hospital in Srinagar. The army has not released any figures on how many militants were involved in today’s ambush.
The military has earlier claimed the militants made several infiltration bids this year but not succeeded so far, though Jammu and Kashmir police officers claim some militants have managed to enter the Valley.
The army’s 15 Corps chief Lieutenant General Syed Ata Hasnain recently said that 700 militants in 42 terror camps were waiting to cross over from the other side.
Today’s gunfight assumes significance as two countries today agreed to strengthen co-operation on counter-terrorism including among relevant departments as well as agencies to bring those responsible for terror crimes to justice.
No comments:
Post a Comment