Jammu: A major infiltration bid by a group of about half-a-dozen heavily-armed terrorists was foiled on Tuesday along the LoC in Kupwara district of north Kashmir, an Army official said.
A soldier was injured in the initial exchange of firing with the terrorists who were trying to sneak into the valley from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) through Machhal sector, the official said.
He said the group had sneaked about 500 metres inside the Indian territory when it was confronted by the alert troops, leading to a gunfight.
A massive search operation was underway, the officials said, adding the injured soldier was evacuated to a hospital.
On August 3, the Army said it had foiled an attack by Pakistan's Border Action Team (BAT) on a forward post along the LoC in Keran sector of Kupwara, killing at least five to seven intruders.
The latest infiltration bid happened at a time when the General officer Commanding-in-Chief, Northern Command, Lt Gen Ranbir Singh, said Pakistan has intensified its efforts at increasing the strength of terrorists in launch pads along the LoC over the past few days and pushing infiltrators into Jammu and Kashmir.
"If the Pakistan Army continues with its disruptive course, the Indian Army will respond with resolve and the costs will be prohibitive for them," Lt Gen Singh said chairing a meeting of the core group of intelligence and security agencies in Srinagar.
Pakistan violates ceasefire along LoC in J-K's Rajouri
Pakistan violated ceasefire on Tuesday by mortar shelling and small arms firing on forward posts and villages along the Line of Control (LoC) in Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir, officials said.
The firing from across the border started in Sunderbani sector around 12.40 pm, prompting retaliation by the Indian Army, an army officer said.
He said the exchange of firing between the two sides continued till 2.30 pm.
However, there was no immediate report of any casualty in the Pakistani firing which was unprovoked, he said.
This was the second ceasefire violation along the LoC in the past four days. On August 3, Pakistan targeted Mehdhar sector of Poonch.
Last month, two Army personnel and a 10-day-old baby were killed and several civilians injured in heavy Pakistani shelling and firing in the twin districts of Poonch and Rajouri in Jammu region.
With inputs from PTI
