3 soldiers, 7 Pak infiltrators among 11 killed in JK

Srinagar, Oct 6 (UNI) Three soldiers and eight militants-- seven heavily armed Pakistani infiltrators and one Lashker-e-Toiba (LeT) commander-- were killed in the Jammu and Kashmir violence overnight.

A defence spokesman said troops guarding the Line of Control (LoC) in Tangdhar sector in the frontier district of Kupwara noticed a group of militants sneaking into this side.

When challenged, the militants opened fire and tried to escape under the cover of darkness.

However, the troops retaliated and killed three militants while three others, who managed to escape, were later killed in another village.

The spokesman said two soldiers also lost their lives in the encounter.

He said another infiltrator was killed near the LoC in Baramulla this morning.

The spokesman said a huge cache of arms and ammunition, including assault rifles, grenades and satellite phones, were recovered from the slain militants.

In another incident, militants attacked a security force search party at Manzkhah Chatergam in south Kashmir, official sources said.

Troops retaliated and in the night-long fierce encounter, one Naik Rachbir Singh of 62 RR and a LeT commander Abu Furkan were killed and two jawans wounded.

The injured had been hospitalised, they said, adding reinforcement was rushed to the area from nearby camps to strengthen the cordon around the village to foil any militant attempt.

UNI