Seven encounters on the Line of Control that resulted in the killing of 14 militants is an indication that more and more militants are trying to sneak into the Valley in small groups before the winter sets in Kashmir.

Recently, security agencies have already tracked militant movements in the Valley; sources said these militants had sneaked into Valley through Kupwara and Handwara districts in small groups, taking advantage of the damaged fencing on the LoC. Sources said Army is anticipating more infiltration in the coming days.

Though, Army has already started repairing the LoC fencing, however, militants had sneaked through rugged terrain and tough passes. Three encounters that had started on the LoC on Tuesday evening at three different places are still going on. So far, seven militants have been shot dead in these encounters. “The search operation on the LoC is going on. However, there are no reports of fresh causalities,” Defence spokesman, Lt Col J S Brar said.

Brar confirmed the killing of 14 militants on LoC since July 27 at different places. “So far, 14 militants mostly infiltrators were killed in encounters that took place in Bangus, Tanghdar to Keran sectors. We also lost a trooper in these encounters,” he said.

Sources said the Army had traced very recently traced some intercepts from across the LoC that indicate that militants have changed their strategy and are planning to infiltrate fresh groups in small numbers through North Kashmir. “We traced six small groups at different places on the LoC in past ten days. This is an indication that militants are now coming in small groups,” said a senior Army officer posted in frontier Kupwara district. “Earlier, big militant groups had tried to infiltrate into Valley taking advantage of harsh weather conditions,” he said.

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