Desperate infiltration bid in Keran sector foiled: Bikram Singh

Army Chief General Bikram Singh on Tuesday said that his troops had foiled a 'desperate infiltration' bid in Keran sector of Jammu and Kashmir, and added that the militants were not in a strong position to mount any attack.

General Singh sought to clarify that the infiltration attempt was not an "intrusion" as the enemy was not occupying higher ground but sitting in a "nallah" (rivulet).

"Large number of channels has talked about this being an intrusion. It is not. Remember, if there is an intrusion, the adversary would get... the terrorist would go and occupy a dominating ground, which is defensible. In this case, they are in the naala. I mean, which adversary is going to dominate an area by being sitting in the naala. It was a desperate infiltration bid that has been foiled," General Singh said.

"I would recommend, please hold your horses, let the army commander, Northern Command, speak to you all and you will get to know what is happening," he added.

General Singh had earlier assured that the terrorists will be flushed out of the area soon, and said that the ongoing operation was under control.

"There is nothing like that. It was an infiltration attempt by about 30 to 40 terrorists; they attempted this infiltration at four or five places. We had information about it. They have been stopped, prevented, neutralized some of them and operations are on to flush them out," said General Singh, when asked that there are media speculations about the present situation in Keran Sector being another Kargil.

"No village has been occupied. It's an area where they have come in, we are dominating from all sides and the terrorists are holed up. It's a broken ground, it's very difficult terrain; they are stuck in that and we will take them on," he added.

A huge cache of arms and ammunition was recovered from Keran sector along the Line of Control in Kashmir valley on Monday.

The army launched a massive anti-infiltration operation in Shalbhatti village in Keran Sector on September 24 after noticing a group of 30 to 40 militants trying to sneak into the valley.