Indian Army foils infiltration bid in Machhil sector of Kashmir, five militants killed

The army foiled a major infiltration attempt by militants to cross over from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) into the Machhil sector of Jammu and Kashmir on Monday, and five ultras were killed in the ensuing shootout.

#indianarmy Infiltration bid foiled in Machhil Sector (Kupwara) . Five armed intruders killed. Ops in progress @adgpi

— NORTHERN COMMAND - INDIAN ARMY (@NorthernComd_IA) August 7, 2017

“A major infiltration bid was foiled in the Machhil sector by alert troops,” a defence spokesman said in Srinagar. [caption id=“attachment_3745445” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. Reuters[/caption] He added that five militants were killed in the operation which was going on when reports last came in. “During the search, five weapons have been recovered by the army,” the spokesman said. The Northern Command said that operations are still on in Machhil. This incident two months after multiple infiltration bids were foiled along the Line of Control. One soldier was also killed by the infiltrators. The army said infiltration attempts were thwarted in Gurez, Machhil, Naugam and Uri sectors and a large cache of arms, ammunition and “war-like stores” had been recovered. All four bids were allegedly aided by Pakistani forces, who provided active support, including cover fire using heavy calibre artillery, the army’s Northern Command said in a statement. The army also said it  had thwarted six infiltration attempts along the LoC in North Kashmir in June. Northern Command claimed that in 2017, 22 infiltration attempts have been foiled and 38 armed intruders have been eliminated along the LoC. With inputs from agencies