Jammu, December 13
As many as 27 IED blasts rocked the Kanachak border belt in the Akhnoor sector today. However, there was no casualty “on this side of the border,” according to a Defence Ministry spokesperson.
Official reports said either militants or Pakistani troops triggered the blasts from 5 a.m. to 10 a.m. on a two-km border stretch between Beli Azmat and Tent post in the Akhnoor sector. The IEDs and some land mines had been planted at night on the zero line and were triggered through remote control.
The reports said either a trap was being laid for the security forces guarding the international border to come close to the zero line and get killed in firing or infiltration routes were being created.
The Akhnoor sector, besides the R.S. Pora and Samba sectors, has witnessed intermittent but heavy firing from the Pakistani side during the past several weeks.
According to BSF sources, Pakistani troops continue to fire between 3,000 and 5,000 rounds on border villages and pickets every day.
Indian and Pakistani troops exchanged heavy firing and shelling along the border in Siachen glacier and Jammu-Poonch sectors since last night, official sources said today.
Pakistani troops fired on most of the defence locations and shelled some areas in central and southern Siachen glacier since last night.
Indian troops retaliated and the exchanges continued till this afternoon. However, there was no loss of life or damage to property.
Pakistani Rangers also fired along the international border at 40 border outposts and civilian areas.
Meanwhile a report from Srinagar said the BSF foiled a suicide attack by militants on its camp in Jammu and Kashmir, where six persons including three militants were killed today, sources said.
Three militants tried to storm a BSF camp at Wagar village of Tral after hurling grenades and opening fire in the wee hours today.
BSF personnel retaliated, killing a Pakistani militant, Shakeed Ahmad, alias Khalid Bhai, of
Kasoor village. The other militants escaped under cover of darkness.
The police said Nazir Ahmad Yattoo, alias Shakir Ghaznavi, divisional commander of the Hizb-ul- Mujahideen, was killed in an encounter with the security forces at Goshbugh, Pattan in Baramula district today. Three AK rifles, a pika gun and a pistol were recovered from the site of the encounter.
The militants shot a counter-insurgent, Abdul Rehman Khanday, at his house in Gogjipora of Kulgam area of Anantang district last night. His daughter Reena who also received injuries succumbed to her injuries later.
A foreign mercenary, Khalid Bhai of Kasoor, Pakistan, was killed in an encounter with the BSF at Wagar in Pulwama district of south Kashmir today. Two AK rifles, two magazines and 22 rounds were recovered from him.
