Floodlights installed along borders with Pakistan;Army foils infiltration bid again, kills four terrorists

AGENCY
NEW DELHI: At least four terrorists were killed in Machil Sector of north Kashmir’s Kupwara district, as the Army foiled an infiltration bid across the border on Tuesday night an official said on Wednesday.
The operation ensued after personnel of the counter-insurgency Rashtriya Rifles started an operation in Sardari Nad forests near the LoC on information about presence of militants there.
The incident took place late last night when troops guarding the Line of Control (LoC) noticed a group of militants trying to infiltrate into the valley from across the border in Machil sector under the cover of darkness, the Army official said.
Troops engaged the heavily-armed terrorists who tried to escape taking advantage of the thick forest cover. Four terrorists, yet to be identified, were killed and 3 AK-47 rifles recovered. Search operations to track down other members of the group were going on, the official said.
This is the third infiltration bid foiled by the Army in north Kashmir in the past fortnight.
On May 26, two Pakistani Border Action Team (BAT) members who tried to infiltrate into Uri sector to carry out an attack on the soldiers were killed.
Six more terrorists were killed in the same sector next day when they attempted to sneak into the valley from across the border.
Meanwhile, the government has floodlit 647 kilometers of the borders with Pakistan and Bangladesh to prevent terrorists and immigrants from infiltrating into Indian territory.
The floodlighting of the 647-km-long stretches of the two international borders was completed in last one year, a Home Ministry official said.
It will help border guarding forces keep strict vigil in the forward areas and check attempts of infiltration by terrorists and illegal immigrants.
Projects worth Rs 5,188 crore were sanctioned by the central government in the last three years of which Rs 2,138 crore has been released for the Indo-Bangladesh and Indo-Pak border projects. These include erecting a fence in a 200-km area, constructing 430-km-long border roads, 110 composite border outposts and floodlighting the 647-km-long areas. The total length of the Indo-Pak border is 3,323 km, including the Line of Control and the Actual Ground Position Line, while the Indo-Bangladesh border is 4,096 km long. The India-China border is 3,488 km long.