After prolonged searches in the thick forests and under difficult terrain conditions, security forces confirmed the elimination of two intruders, the Army said. (Representational image)The Army said Monday that it had foiled a “major” Pakistan Border Action Team (BAT) attempt to strike a forward post along the LoC in Nowgam Sector in north Kashmir. In the Army retaliation early Sunday morning, “two likely Pakistani soldiers” were killed, said officials.
According to a spokesperson of the Army’s 15 Corps, “intruders attempted to move by exploiting the thick jungles close to LoC and were assisted by heavy covering fire of high calibre weapons such as mortars and rocket launchers from the Pakistani posts”.
“The movement was nonetheless detected by the vigilant Indian Army troops deployed along the LoC. The firefight initiated by Pakistan was given strong retaliation by Indian Army and the exchange of fire continued the whole night,” said the spokesperson.
The Army said search operations “confirmed elimination of two likely Pakistani soldiers and resulted in recovery of a large cache of warlike stores” adding that a “few other intruders managed to escape across the LoC, taking advantage of the Pakistani firing and adverse weather and visibility conditions”.
The Army said the intruders were wearing “combat dresses like Pakistani Regulars and were carrying stores with Pakistani markings further reinforced the assessment”.
“We will ask Pakistan to take back the mortal remains of deceased likely Pakistani soldiers since Pakistan did provide full covering fire support to these intruders,” said the spokesperson.
