Five guerrillas die as Kashmir infiltration bid foiled

Five separatist guerrillas were killed in north Kashmir's Kupwara district Tuesday where the army foiled a major infiltration bid from across the line of control (LOC), a military official said.

Colonel A.S. Pendharkar, spokesperson of army's 28 division, told IANS: "Based on specific information about the terrorist plans to sneak into our side of the LOC, alert troops at Ustad Post in Keran sector detected movement of heavily armed eight to nine terrorists in the forest area some 800 metres ahead of the border fencing on our side of the LOC.

"The terrorists were immediately fired upon resulting in an encounter during which five terrorists were killed. Taking advantage of the thick foliage in the area, the remaining terrorists fled towards the LOC."

The spokesperson said the bodies of the slain guerrillas could not be recovered as these were lying in an inaccessible area near the LOC.

Earlier, Naresh Vig, defence spokesperson had said that heavy casualties had been inflicted on intruding guerrillas on the LOC, but Vig had not specified the number of guerrillas killed in the operation.