7 militants, 1 jawan killed in anti militants opn

Srinagar, Jul 2: Troops foiled a major infiltration bid as they gunned down seven heavily-armed militants in the on-going military operation in north Kashmir, a defence ministry spokesman said.

He said the troops guarding the Line of Control (LoC) in Keran sector noticed a group of militants sneaking into the Indian side from the Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK) at Roshni post.

When challenged and asked to surrender, the militants opened fire. The troops also retaliated and in the fierce clash two militants and an army peronnel were killed.

As the army from other areas also joined in and encircled the militans from all sides, five more militants were killed in the operation since last evening, he said A large cache of arms and ammunition, including seven A K rifles were recovered from the slain militants.

This was the first major infiltration attempt from the PoK since January this year.

Officials said about 1500 militants were waiting across the border to cross over to distrub the state assembly elections scheduled to be held later this year.

UNI