Six infiltrators killed near LoC in Kashmir

Srinagar, Oct 22: At least six infiltrators have been killed by troops near the Line of Control (LoC) in north Kashmir's Machil sector over the past few days, official sources said today.

They said alert troops noticed the movement of a group of heavily-armed infiltrators immediately after it crossed the LoC and sneaked into the Indian side on the intervening night of October 18-19 from the Machil sector.

On being challenged, the intruders opened fire on troops with their automatic weapons. The fire was effectively retaliated by troops, resulting in a fierce encounter, the sources said.

They said the gun-battle raged on for several days because of heavy snowfall in the area.

''As the firefight stopped this morning, troops began extensive search of the area and recovered bodies of six infiltrators and some arms and ammunition from the encounter site,'' the sources added.

They said the search operation was on when reports last came in.

UNI