From Fayaz Bukhari
SRINAGAR, Apr 6: Army today said that killing of 5 Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) militants in North Kashmir’s Zachaldara forests of Rajwar area is a major success for the security forces and apprehended that militants may try to infiltrate in the coming months to fill the void created in their ranks due to successful operations.
General Officer Commanding (GOC) 15 Corps Lt General S A Hasnain while interacting with the media at Handwara about the operation said: “We have eliminated 10 militants over the recent days and it has created a void among the militant ranks. There will be attempts from the other side during the coming months to fill it.”
He dismissed suggestions that the killed militants were infiltrators, saying they were active in the forest area. He said the group was probably in the area to receive infiltrators and guide them into the hinterland of Kashmir valley.
It may be mentioned here that 5 militants of LeT were killed in Zachaldara forests of Handwara yesterday. On March 28, 5 LeT militants were eliminated in nearby Rajwar forests. All these militants were thought to be that of the same group of LeT, who were hiding in the forests for past over a year.
After conducting the searches of the encounter site by the security forces, large quantity of arms and ammunition, including five AK assault rifles, 17 magazines, 350 rounds, five hand grenades, one radio set, two GPS devices, two mobile chargers and two diaries were recovered.
Sources said that 10 dead militants were part of a large LeT group that was in Rajwar forest area of Handwara in the frontier district of Kupwara. The security forces were tracking them for past few months and killed 10 of them in three successful operations. However, as per sources, 15 militants of the LeT are still in the forests of Zachaldara.
Meanwhile in Srinagar, militants carried out a grenade attack at the Srinagar airport road last night but there was no damage done in the explosion.
A blast was reported from Humhama area on the outskirts of the city, on way to airport, at 10 pm last night, police said.
Preliminary investigations have revealed that it was a grenade blast but there were no reports of any damage in the incident, police added.
The blast took place close to the area housing the police headquarters, State Vigilance Organisation headquarters and ITI complex, police spokesman added.
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