Five infiltrators had planned fidayeen attack in Uri: Army
Majid Jahangir
Tribune News Service
Srinagar, June 11
The Army today said five infiltrators killed in Uri on June 9 were fidayeen who had planned to attack an Army installation in the border town of Uri.
The five slain Lashkar-e-Toiba militants, the Army said, were armed with uniquely body-strapped improvised explosive devices (IEDs) with a timer mechanism.
Brigadier YS Ahlawat, Commander of Army’s Uri brigade, said militants tried to infiltrate into the Uri sector by exploiting the thick jungles on the Line of Control (LoC) during night time.
“The alert troops detected their movement and immediately engaged them in a fire-fight. After the initial fire-fight and a prolonged search operation, which lasted for over two days in thick jungles and difficult terrain under inclement weather conditions, the five terrorists have successfully been eliminated,” he said.
The Army claimed to have recovered a huge quantity of arms and ammunitions during the search of the area. That includes five AK 47 rifles, two UBGL, large quantity of explosives, combat dresses, incendiary material, eatables with Pakistan markings and IEDs.
“All this indicates that this was a fidayeen group which was infiltrating into the sector with a sinister plan to carry out an attack on an Army camp or a civil installation in and around Uri. There are large possibilities that with the kind of material they were carrying they could have carried out a fidayeen attack which was similar to the Uri incident,” Brigadier Ahlawat told reporters in Uri.
On September 18 last year, an Army base in Uri responsible for guarding the LoC came under an attack, when a group of four fidayeen stormed it. At least 19 soldiers were killed in the attack. This was followed by the Army launching surgical strikes on militant launchpads in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).
Brigadier Ahlawat said the recovery of uniquely body-fitted IEDs with timer mechanism implies that they would have finally blown themselves up in the end.
Brigadier Ahlawat said the alertness and resilience of the Army had not only resulted in elimination of the group but also ensured peace and tranquillity in the Valley which they tried to vitiate, especially during the holy month of Ramazan.
“This is the fifth infiltration bid that has successfully been eliminated by the Army in the past three days. The Army continues with the resolve to keep a strict vigil along the LoC and foil all such nefarious designs of Pakistan abetted terrorists,” he said.
Since Wednesday, the Army has killed at least 13 militants along the LoC who were trying to infiltrate through different sectors.
