4 Pak infiltrators among 5 killed, 7 yatris injured in J

Srinagar, July 31 (UNI) Four heavily armed Pakistani infiltrators were among five people killed and 10 others, including seven Amarnath pilgrims were wounded while security forces busted several hideout and recovered bombs, grenades and other war like stores in the Jammu and Kashmir overnight.

A defence ministry spokesman said troops, noticed some suspicious movement near the Line of Control (LoC) in Gurez sector of Baramulla district in the wee hours today.

As the troops challenged and asked them to surrender, the infiltrators fired heavily, he said adding the fire was retaliated effectively and in the fierce encounter four militants were killed.

Four AK rifles, 16 magazines, ten hand grenades and three wireless sets were seized from the encounter site, the spokesman said adding search operation was going on when the reports last came in.

A civilian Ghulam Hassan Najar was also killed in the incident.

Defence authorities have described the killing of Najar very unfortunate.

This was the third infiltration attempt by the militants in Gurez sector during the past one week. However, alert security forces thwart all these attempts and killed seven infiltrators.

About 50 infiltrators were killed by the security forces near the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir after they crossed over from PoK since January this year.

Seven Amarnath pilgrims from Uttar Pradesh and Punjab were among the ten people injured in a grenade blast at a crowded bus stand in Batmaloo this afternoon, official sources said.

They said unidentified militants hurled a hand grenade at a local bus. The grenade exploded inside the bus injuring ten Amarnath pilgrims.

The injured were immediately shifted to SMHS hospital by locals and police.

The injured told UNI, in the hospital, that they were on their way to cave shrine at the bus stand when the blast occurred.

'Before we could understand what had happened, we were bleeding,'' they said, adding, ''the locals helped us to move out of the damaged bus.'' MORE UNI BAS QAB KR RK1914