two soldiers were martyred

(With inputs from Agencies)

Naugam operation: 4 terrorists killed, 3 soldiers martyred

NEW DELHI: Four terrorists were killed and three soldiers lost their lives after the Indian Army launched an operation to foil an infiltration bid in Jammu and Kashmir 's Naugam sector on Saturday.The fierce encounter began when alert troops intercepted a group of infiltrators near the Line of Control in Kupwara district's Naugam on Saturday. While two terrorists were gunned down on Saturday,in the operation."An infiltration bid was foiled by alert troops along the LoC in Naugam sector. Two infiltrating terrorists were killed," an army official had said.After battling the infiltrators for over 36 hours, the army killed another terrorist even as another jawan sacrificed his life."Two more terrorists were killed today while another soldier attained martyrdom," the official said.A sanitisation operation is currently underway along the LoC. Four weapons and other war-like stores have also been recovered from the encounter site.Defence minister Arun Jaitley had on Friday lauded the "aggressive domination" and "readiness of troops" in giving a befitting reply to any threats from across the border.The Kashmir valley has witnessed a spurt in incidents of violence and infiltrarion attempts in the last couple of months.The Pakistani troops were involved in 67 ceasefire violations in the first four months of 2017, with maximum of 26 incidents reported in April. A total of 27 terrorists were killed between January and April in counter-insurgency operations.