Four terrorists, soldier killed in Kashmir gun battle (Second Lead)

JAMMU - Four terrorists and an army soldier were killed in a gun battle in Jammu and Kashmir’s Reasi district Friday, police said. Firing was still on in the area late Friday evening.

The gun battle in Reasi district, adjoining Thrayath area of Rajouri district, erupted at 6 a.m., after soldiers and police trapped the militants in the Behma forests, about 150 km north of Jammu, as they pursued terrorists who had sneaked into the state from Pakistan over 10 days ago.

According to a police spokesman, the militants used grenades and fired from AK-47 assault rifles against the security forces, killing a soldier.

With the killing of four terrorists Friday, the total number of terrorists killed since March 27 has risen to 16, while the number of soldiers who have died inthe skirmishes has gone up to four.

The latest gunfight occurred within hours of another fierce battle in Kalakote in Rajouri district in which six terrorists were killed.

The slain men are believed to have stealthily crossed into Jammu and Kashmir at Pallanwalla, about 50 km north of Jammu, March 23 and travelled up to Kalakote in Rajouri and Behma forests in Reasi district.

Military spokesman Lt. Col. Biplab Nath said the army began to track down the guerrillas after a woman alerted them.

“A lady told soldiers about the suspicious movement of strangers,” said the officer.

Farmers in Pallwallan close to the Line of Control (LoC), which divides Jammu and Kashmir between India and Pakistan, had spotted the infiltrators from Pakistan March 23.

One of them had asked the shortest route to Rajouri. The woman to whom the question was posed relayed the information to the nearest army camp.

The Jammu and Kashmir Police were also alerted.

The first contact with the militants was made in Dharmsal area of Kalakote in Rajouri March 27 and two terrorists were killed.

The second contact took place in Thrayth Tuesday, triggering an 18-hour gun battle that lasted into Wednesday and left four guerrillas and three soldiers dead.

Six terrorists were killed in Rajouri district Thursday.

Rajouri’s Senior Superintendent of Police Shafkat Watali told IANS over telephone Thursday evening that all the terrorists belonged to the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Toiba outfit.

“It is a very big success for security forces and a big blow to the Lashkar,” he stated.

Watali said the infiltrators were trying to sneak in from different parts of the LoC. “We will get them, come what may,” he said on telephone from Rajouri.

Most militants from Pakistan try to enter Jammu and Kashmir by breaching the LoC, which demarcates a vast area including mountains, jungles, ravines and huge rocks.

Last year, Jammu and Kashmir recorded 485 infiltration bids and security forces killed 101 militants. This year, the number of infiltration attempts so far has already crossed 60.