india

Updated: Dec 31, 2018 12:21 IST

The Indian Army has claimed to have thwarted a “treacherous attempt” by Pakistan’s Border Action Team (BAT) to launch a strike on its post along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir’s Naugam sector and killed two intruders in the area.

A spokesperson of the army said the recovery of arms and ammunition early on Sunday indicated that they intended to carry out a “gruesome attack” in the region.

“The alertness and resilience of the own troops, who engaged and neutralised the intruders, thus eliminated a likely treacherous attack on the army forward posts along the Line of Control on the eve of New Year,” he said.

The officials said the intruders were wearing combat uniform like regular Pakistani soldiers and carrying stores with markings of the neighbouring country. He said they took advantage of the thick forests close to the LoC.

“Some intruders were also seen in BSF (Border Security Force) and old pattern IA dresses as part of a deception. They had intruded well equipped with IEDs, incendiary materials, explosives, and a plethora of arms and ammunition,” the spokesperson said.

“They 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,” he said.

He said the firefight initiated by Pakistan was retaliated strongly by the Indian Army.

“The exchange of fire continued the whole night. Our troops conducted prolonged search operations in thick jungles and difficult terrain conditions to ascertain the situation, which confirmed the elimination of two likely Pakistani soldiers and resulted in the recovery of a large cache of warlike stores.”

The army said the search operations are still underway in the sector to sanitise the area.

“Few other intruders managed to escape across the LoC, taking advantage of the Pakistani firing and adverse weather and visibility conditions,” it said.

“The Indian Army’s resolve to keep a strict vigil along the LoC and defeat all such nefarious designs of Pakistan will continue to remain firm and consistent.”

The spokesperson said the Indian Army will ask Pakistan to take back the bodies of the likely Pakistani soldiers.

Naugam sector in Kashmir’s Kupwara district is manned by soldiers of the 19th Infantry Division of the Indian Army. There have been frequent ceasefire violations going in the Naugam, Tanghdar and Keran sectors in the past several months.