One Army Soldier Injured During Infiltration Attempt in Poonch

Srinagar: In the early hours of Wednesday, an Indian Army soldier was injured during an encounter along the Line of Control (LoC) in the Poonch sector of Jammu, the army said.

The firing erupted in the border region between India and Pakistan following a joint operation by Indian forces and the Jammu and Kashmir Police. This operation successfully intercepted the infiltrators. Lt Col Devender Anand, the Indian Army's Jammu-based PRO (Defence), stated that three alleged infiltrators were apprehended along with an improvised explosive device (IED) and narcotics.

The militants, taking advantage of bad weather and heavy rains on the intervening night of May 30 and 31, 2023, were intercepted on the LoC while attempting to cross the fence. Lt Col Anand said in a statement, "After tracking their movement at approximately 01:30 hours, our well-positioned Indian Army ambush engaged them, resulting in a retaliatory firefight and hits on some of the terrorists."

To investigate the incident further, the security forces have cordoned off the area and initiated a search operation. Blood trails have also been discovered near the site.

The soldier injured in the ensuing firing has been evacuated from the area and shifted to a military hospital for treatment. 

Earlier on May 13, a Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) of the Indian Army was injured in a similar firing incident against an infiltration attempt near the Uri sector in North Kashmir. On April 9, two suspected infiltrators were captured while another was killed in a bid to cross the LoC in the Poonch sector, which has reported several such incidents despite a fragile India-Pakistan ceasefire holding up since 2021.

The incident also comes a day after suspected militants killed a young worker in South Kashmir’s Anantnag district in a targeted attack that has heightened security concerns in the region. 

NIA Crackdown Continues

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) continued its raids in the region as part of the crackdown against militant outfits, during which they claimed to have seized “incriminating literature” and “several digital devices”. 

The searches, the NIA said, were conducted at three locations in the valley in the residential premises of what the agency termed were “sympathisers, cadres, hybrid terrorists and Over Ground Workers (OGWs), allegedly linked with the militant outfits including Laskhar-e-Toiba (LeT), Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM), AI-Badr, and AI-Qaeda. 

“The day-long raids and searches were conducted at locations in Srinagar and Budgam districts, as part of the ongoing NIA investigations into the activities of the recently formed terrorist groups, including The Resistance Front (TRF), United Liberation Front Jammu & Kashmir (ULFJ&K), Mujahideen Gazwat-ul-Hind (MGH), Jammu & Kashmir Freedom Fighters (JKFF), Kashmir Tigers and PAFF,” a statement read.  

The NIA added that recently, the agency has raided as many as 51 locations in connection with the “terror conspiracy case” (RC-05/2022/NIA/JMU), which was registered suo moto by the NIA on June 21, 2022.