Kupwara: Security forces foil infiltration bid, 4 terrorists killed
In a joint operation conducted by the Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) Police and the Indian Army on Friday, four terrorists were killed in the Kala Jungle of Machhal sector while they were reportedly trying to infiltrate from Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (POK) in Kupwara. This is reportedly the second major infiltration attempt foiled by the security forces in the past seven days.
Kashmir Zone Police provides update
Taking to Twitter, the Kashmir Zone Police said, "In a joint operation, Army and Police have killed four terrorists in Kala Jungle of Machhal sector in Kupwara who were trying to infiltrate to our side from POJK." According to the news outlet India Today, a gunfight broke out when the terrorists were spotted trying to infiltrate the Indian side.
Check out Kashmir Zone Police's tweet
Here's what Chinar Corps said in their separate release
In a separate post on Twitter, the Indian Army's Chinar Corps stated that an infiltration bid was foiled by alert troops along the LOC in Macchal Sector, Kupwara, and that an operation is in progress. On Thursday, the Anantnag Police also apprehended two terrorists associated with Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and confiscated arms and ammunition in the Jammu and Kashmir town of Bijbehara.
Twitter post by Chinar Corps
Second such incident in Kupwara in one week
Notably, this new encounter incident comes just a week after a significant infiltration bid at Jumgund Keran, close to the district's Line of Control (LoC), was foiled by the security forces in an identical joint operation. During a press conference following the incident, the General Officer Commanding Vajra Division, Major General Girish Kalia, stated that there was a ceasefire agreement between India and Pakistan.
J&K reported 242 terrorist incidents in 2022: Government data
However, in recent months, security forces have received a considerable amount of intelligence about possible infiltration from across the LoC. In February, Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai revealed that terrorist-initiated encounters and events in J&K dropped 45% between 2018 and 2022. The Union Territory reported 242 terrorist incidents in 2022, of which 125 were terrorist-initiated and 117 were encounters, he added.
