Keran: Army airdrops troops

Army helicopters have been used to airdrop paratroopers in a forested area of Jammu and Kashmir’s frontier Kupwara district to fight the 30-40 infiltrators who are reported holding on to their positions and are understood to have taken refuge in some old and abandoned Army bunkers. Earlier during the intervening night of Wednesday and Thursday, the heavily armed militants and the Army exchanged sporadic fire but there was no fresh report of any casualties. Meanwhile, a top Lashkar-e-Tayyaba commander and his accomplices, who were holed up in a private house in Srinagar’s Ahmed Nagar area after security forces laid siege to it on Wednesday evening, have escaped. Eight policemen were injured when the militants exploded a grenade and in subsequent brief exchange of fire between the two sides. Army helicopters flew over the neighbourhood of Gund Shala Bhatta village close to the Line of Control (LoC) in Keran sector of Kupwara to take on the infiltrators on Thursday. Also, hundreds of men from J&K police's counterinsurgency Special Operations Group (SOG) joined Army troops drawn from its various units based in Kupwara district including 3/3 GR, 15 RR, 16 GR and 5 ASSAM and together were heading for the infested area for the final assault against the infiltrators. Reports also said that intermittent firing between the infiltrators and the Army continued throughout the night as the troops maintained a tight vigil over the cordoned off area. A report said that the infiltrators have occupied three abandoned Indian observatory posts including Khokri and Kullar facing Pakistani posts of Biswal and Ahithana.Lt. Gen. Gurmit Singh, the commander of Srinagar-based Army 15 (Chinar) Corps, had on Wednesday claimed the pattern of firing suggests that the infiltrators have backing and training of “special troops” who could be the personnel of Pakistan Army’s Border Action Team of BAT. He told reporters here: “This is not a pure infiltration attempt. They are specially trained and could include BAT also.” Islamabad has strongly denied its involvement in the clash. Earlier reports had said that in Shala Bhatta, an abandoned village near the LoC, has been taken over by the infiltrating group. The Army commander, however, refuted it saying: “There is no question of our territory being taken over”. He had also said, “The action is taking place within the cordon we have laid.” Shala Bhatta, a village stealthy abandoned in 1990 by a few hundred of its residents all of whom crossed over to Pakistani side of the de facto border. Army officials here claim that only five of their men have been injured in the gun battle that started on September 24, while 10 to 12 militants were believed killed in the operation launched to foil the major infiltration bid.

They have also claimed that they are in total control of the operation. “The reports of our posts being captured by the infiltrators are absurd,” Lt. Gen. Singh had said. Meanwhile, the cordon laid around Ahmed Nagar suburb of Srinagar on Wednesday evening following reports about the presence of the LeT commander and “Operational Chief” for Srinagar Abu Hurrera and his accomplices was lifted at 8 am on Thursday as the militants had managed to escape the security dragnet overnight. A red-alert has been sounded in Srinagar and a massive manhunt launched for the militants.