Four militants, suspected to be infiltrators, were killed in a gunbattle on the Line of Control (LoC) in Bangus valley early on Sunday morning. A soldier has also been killed in the encounter. This is the third encounter on the LoC in the past six days. So far, the Army has claimed to have foiled two infiltration bids in Tangdhar and neighbouring Keran sectors killing four infiltrators.

Sources said the militants killed on Sunday were believed to be part of the first infiltrating group that had sneaked into the valley through Eagle Post in Tangdhar sector on July 27. Though the Army had killed three militants near the LoC post on last Monday, some from that group had managed to escape and enter dense Bangus forest valley.

The sources, however, said the Army had been keeping track of the militants and finally managed to trap them inside the meadows of Bangus, up in the mountains.

“Four militants were gunned down by the Army inside the Bangus valley,” Defence spokesman Lt Col J S Brar said. “So far, we have no details whether the slain militants were fresh infiltrators or they were part of the group that is already present in the forests of Kupwara and Handwara.”

Brar said the troops were combing the forests and meadows of Bangus. “So far, militants have not been identified but arms and ammunition has been recovered from their possession,” Brar added.

The sources said a big group of militants had sneaked into the Valley on July 27 from the Leepa valley in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK). The militant group was first spotted by an Army patrol near Eagle post on the very first day and the troopers manning the forward posts engaged them near the LoC.

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