Major infiltration bid by heavily-armed terrorists foiled along LoC in Kashmir

A major infiltration bid by a group of about half-a-dozen heavily-armed terrorists was foiled on Tuesday along the LoC in Kupwara district of north Kashmir, an Army official said.

A soldier was injured in the initial exchange of firing with the terrorists who were trying to sneak into the valley from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) through Machhal sector, the official said.

He said the group had sneaked about 500 metres inside the Indian territory when it was confronted by the alert troops, leading to a gunfight.

A massive search operation was underway, the officials said, adding the injured soldier was evacuated to a hospital.

On August 3, the Army said it had foiled an attack by Pakistan's Border Action Team (BAT) on a forward post along the LoC in Keran sector of Kupwara, killing at least five to seven intruders.

The latest infiltration bid happened at a time when the General officer Commanding-in-Chief, Northern Command, Lt Gen Ranbir Singh, said Pakistan has intensified its efforts at increasing the strength of terrorists in launch pads along the LoC over the past few days and pushing infiltrators into Jammu and Kashmir.

"If the Pakistan Army continues with its disruptive course, the Indian Army will respond with resolve and the costs will be prohibitive for them," Lt Gen Singh said chairing a meeting of the core group of intelligence and security agencies in Srinagar.