The Army on Tuesday claimed to have foiled two infiltration bids along the Line of Control in north Kashmir’s Uri and Nowgam sectors. Known as the Line of Control (LOC), the partition separates areas under Indian administration, primarily Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), from Pakistan’s territories, which include Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Kashmir.
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Four militants involved in the terror strike were killed by the Indian Army.
The official said while there were no reports of any casualty in the firing, further details of the incident were awaited.
Indian relatives of army soldier Sunil Kumar Vidyarthi, who died in a gunbattle in Indian-administered Kashmir, react during the last rites at his funeral in his hometown of Gaya, Bihar, on Tuesday. Till Tuesday night, the operation was still on and there was no confirmation if any infiltrator had been killed. “A massive search operation has been launched to nab the other infiltrators”. But he said a soldier had been killed in the gun battle in Nowgam.
“The area has been cordoned off and all escape routes sealed”, army sources added. The sources said a search operation was being conducted thoroughly in both the areas which is densely forested. The firing clearly violates the 2003 ceasefire agreement between India and Pakistan along the worldwide boundary and the Line of Control.
Officials of the National Investigation Agency (NIA), told Indian Express, the majority of the fatalities took place in a cook-house and store room which burned down during the attack.
“DNA samples of the slain terrorists are also being collected”, a source said. Besides the arms and ammunition, the army also recovered two mobile sets and two Global Positioning System from the Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorists.
“The ability of groups such as Jaish-e-Mohammad to operate freely and with impunity in Pakistan are a direct indication of state sponsored terrorism by the country’s intelligence services and military apparatus”, said Samir Kalra, senior director and Human Rights Fellow at the Hindu American Foundation.
Separately, Union Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju said that any action against terrorists based in Pakistan will be taken only after examining all relevant issues.
“If the global community does not succeed in asking India to immediately end state oppression on the innocent people in Jammu and Kashmir, then this would encourage India to increase the intensity of the continuing state atrocities”, Sharif added.
The Prime Minister arrived in NY on Sunday. She is scheduled to speak at the UNGA on September 26.
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“There was a need for a collective response by the Muslim world to defeat and eliminate this threat from the region”, the Prime Minister said. “You don’t want any noise to distract the world leaders from the message you are going to deliver”.
