BSF foils infiltration bid at International border in Sambha

Samba, Dec.22 (ANI): Alert Border Security Force (BSF) personnel successfully foiled an infiltration bid by militants at the International Border (IB) in Samba district of Jammu and Kashmir on Monday.

It was a third attempt to cross the Line of Control (LoC) and International Border in last four days.

Militants targeted Indian posts of SM Pur, SM Pur-1 and Kangral besides surrounding areas in Ramgarh sector to enter the Indian territory.

The BSF personnel, who were maintaining a high alert along the IB, observed movement of some people on their sophisticated gadgetry.

The militants reportedly started firing at the security personnel to sneak-in, to which the security forces retaliated by firing and thwarted the infiltration bid.

The Inspector General of BSF said that the militants might have been injured during the firing, however, presently the situation was under control.

"One or two militants must have suffered injuries. They might have evacuated them to their site. The situation at the moment is under control and peaceful.....the infiltration bid has been successfully foiled. It has been a serious bid and the search operation is still going on but the situation is under control," said A.K. Surrolia, Inspector General of Border Security Force.

Director General of Police in the State, Kuldeep Khudda, said that the infiltrators usually prefer to use the areas of Poonch and Rajouri to cross into Indian territory because the regions get no snowfall during winter, unlike other parts of the State.

"Attempts are on to push in the infiltrators. Snowfall is expected in the upper reaches within the next two months. During that time, the passes will close. Before that, the infiltrators will try to enter the Indian region. During winters, some areas of Poonch remain clear. No snowfall occurs in those parts of Poonch. So the infiltrators prefer to enter the Indian soil from Poonch and Rajouri during the winters," said Khudda.

Officials say incidents of infiltration by Pakistani militants have risen over the past few months.

According to the official reports, nearly 395 infiltration attempts were reported this year as compared to 342 in 2008. (ANI)