Another militant killed in Uri

Majid Jahangir

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, September 25

One more militant was killed today in a fresh gunfight in the Uri sector in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district taking the toll of militants killed in the operation that began on late Saturday to four, the Army said.

The Army on Monday claimed that it foiled a major attack on an Army base by killing four fidayeen close to the Line of Control in the Kalgi area.

A joint operation was launched late Saturday after the security forces received information from civilians about suspicious movement of some non-local militants who were heavily armed in the Kalgi area of Salamabad, Uri, 110 km from Srinagar.

“We had killed three terrorists yesterday and during the combing today a fresh gunfight erupted in which another fidayeen was killed,” the Army said, adding that the search operation was still underway and it might take a day or two for the combing.

Officiating Commander of the Uri Brigade Col Harpreet Singh said the Army had foiled a major militant attack on its Kalgi camp on the Uri-Kaman road in the early hours of September 24.

“These terrorists had infiltrated with explosives and intended to carry out a major attack on the Kalgi camp. The alertness and resilience of the troops who engaged and neutralised the terrorists resulted in foiling a devastating terrorist strike,” Colonel Singh said, adding that the recoveries included IEDs, which were later destroyed.

He said the body of the fourth militant was lying in the forest area. “Going by the way things are exploding near the body, he must have equipped himself with a suicide belt,” the Officiating Commander said.

Sources said inflammable material was also recovered from the slain militants, indicating that the group was on a fidayeen mission to attack the strategic artillery unit in Kalgi.

Last year on September 18, an Army base in Uri came under attack when a group of four fidayeen of the Lashkar-e-Toiba stormed it. As many as 19 soldiers were killed in the attack. This was followed by the Army launching surgical strikes on militant launch pads in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

Meanwhile, the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus plied normally on Monday.