The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Friday, November 30, 2001, Chandigarh, India

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7 BSF men killed in militant attack
Pak troops open fire on Indian posts
Tribune News Service

An Army patrol conducts a cordon-and-search operation in Achhibal village, 36 miles north of Srinagar, on Thursday.

Srinagar, November 29
At least seven Border Security Force (BSF) personnel, including an Assistant Commandant and an Inspector, were killed and three others injured when militants attacked a BSF party at Achhabal near Sopore in Baramula district late last evening.

Three foreign militants were also killed in the retaliatory action by the security forces. The charred body of a suspected militant was found early today, while two other militants were killed later this afternoon after they again fired on the security forces. The house of Ghulam Ahmad Ganai, where the militants were hiding, was razed to the ground in the exchange of fire between militants and the security forces.

The Lashkar-e-Toiba, which has claimed responsibility for the attack, told local media agencies that one of the militants responsible for the attack, Abu Muslim, was killed in the incident.

A BSF spokesman told Tribune News Service here that the security forces, on receipt of specific information about the presence of militants, reached the spot at Mazbug, near Achhabal, about 8 km from Sopore town, around 4.30 p.m. yesterday. Three BSF personnel were killed when militants opened fire on them as soon as the search party of 88 Battalion arrived there. While the bodies of these personnel were being evacuated, the militants again resorted to indiscriminate firing from the house, which led to the death of four others.

The encounter continued till late in the night. While search operations were still going on, two militants opened fire on the troops around 12 noon today. They were killed in the retaliatory action which continued for about half an hour, a BSF spokesman told Tribune News Service here. All of them were suspected to be foreigners belonging to the Lashkar-e-Toiba, the spokesman claimed.

The police said three unidentified foreign militants were killed while a civilian was injured in the incident. Three AK rifles, nine magazines and 120 rounds of ammunition were seized from the site of the encounter, the police said.

The BSF personnel killed were identified as Assistant Commandant I.M. Khan, Inspector Habibullah Khan from Gurez area in Baramula district, Head Constable Lal Khan, Lance Naik Richpal Chand and Constables Ajay Pal Singh, Dilbagh Singh and Jaspal Singh. Constable driver Mohannan and Constable Lekh Raj were among those injured.

Elsewhere in the valley, eight militants and two schoolchildren were killed in separate incidents since yesterday.

Two schoolchildren were killed in Kokernag area of Anantnag district when an explosive device they were fiddling with exploded last evening. They were identified as Imtiyaz Ahmad and Tawseef Ahmad.

Two militants were killed in an encounter with the Special Operations Group (SOG) and the Army at Kandiwari in Kokernag area of Anantnag district today. The operation was still in progress till reports last came in.

A foreign militant, Mohammad Ayaz, alias Hyder, was killed in an encounter with the security forces at Chak-e-Doodipora in Kupwara district yesterday. An AK rifle, four magazines and 98 rounds of ammunition were seized from the slain militant.

The SOG of the Jammu and Kashmir police killed militant at Tangehater in Kangan area of Srinagar district this afternoon. The operation was going on when reports last came in.

In a separate encounter at Arth village in Badgam district, the security forces killed four militants. A large cache of arms and ammunition was seized from the slain militants.

JAMMU: Pakistani troops opened heavy fire on Indian positions in the R.S. Pura, Arnia, Ramgarh and Samba sectors of the Jammu region this morning following the destruction of their bunkers in a ferocious artillery battle with Indian troops last evening, official sources said here.

The sources said a girl, Sunita, sustained serious injuries in the Pakistani firing in the Gular area of the Samba sector.

The BSF Inspector-General (Jammu Range), Mr Vijay Raman, said Pakistan had made its firepower more lethal to try to halt the ongoing work of fencing of the 157-km-long International Boundary stretching from R.S. Pura to Akhnoor in the Jammu region.