dna at LoC: As gunfight continues in Keran, pressure mounts on army to do a Kargil - India - DNA
The road to the battle zone is desolate and littered with rocks and boulders with hardly any sign of human life. Columns of army trucks carrying heavily-armed soldiers to the Shala Bhata break the eerie calm. Several kilometers up on the mountains, a nerve-racking situation prevails with the army preparing for a kill to cleanse the area off infiltrators.
Brigade-size troops backed by fresh reinforcements of special forces are now eyeball to eyeball with 30 to 40 well-entrenched Pakistani militants and special troops, who are receiving regular supplies from across the Line of Control to sustain and take on the might of the Indian Army.
For the past 11 days, the armys response has been calibrated. Given the topography of the area, possible danger is lurking behind the boulders, pine trees and thick vegetation where the militants have taken cover.
Shala Bhata, a ghost village termed as barbad gam (destroyed hamlet) by the locals, has suddenly flashed on the security radar of the army. Nestled in the mighty mountains, Shala Bhata, once a peaceful hamlet housing not more than 50 families, is now a hotly contested piece of land. The villagers had migrated to Pakistan during the early nineties as the area became the favorite infiltration route for militants.
The village extends to the other side of the LoC, which the locals call Pak Shala. Locals say Pak Shala houses Pakistan army posts with little presence of civilians. That explains the supply chain to the infiltrators at Shala Bhata.
Sources said the infiltrators and the army are exchanging heavy volume of gunfire at Lodder Post. The militants and the army have been fighting intense battle near this post for the last so many days, said a soldier who returned from the war zone.
Along with thousands of troops that have been mobilized, the local units serving in the hinterland too have been directed to spare some of their men to augment the forces. Top army commanders have moved from their offices in Kupwara district to command the operations.
Since the face-off started, the army has restricted the movement of the people living close to the LoC. We have been asked not to venture out of our homes after dusk. The bakerwals (shepherds) have also been asked to restrict their movement, said Bashir Ahmad Khawaja, a local resident, here.
Meanwhile, the Pakistani army opened another front in the same sector by pushing in more militants. However, alert troops foiled their attempts.
A defence spokesman said the militants have suffered heavy losses in the operations in Keran sector. Five soldiers have also sustained injuries.
The terrain in the area of operation is rugged, forested and high altitude with heights varying between 9000 to 10,000 feet, which necessitated deliberate operations to ensure minimal casualty to own
troops and at the same time flush out remaining surviving militants. The entire area has been effectively cordoned off by the army, thereby pinning down the militants within the cordon, the spokesman said.
As tense stand-off continues, pressure is mounting on the Indian Army to do a Kargil (evict Pakistan backed-infiltrators and special troops like the troops did in 1999). The intermittent firing is going on. The operation against the ultras is continuing said Naresh Vij, defence spokesman at Srinagar.
Pak army opens another front
Pakistan army on Friday opened another front in Keran sector when it tried to push in a group of militants from the adjacent Gujjurtur area. However, troops foiled their attempts and killed three of them in the early hours of Friday. Three militants were eliminated. Two dead bodies have been recovered along with three AK 47 rifles, four pistols, one Yeasu radio set. The body of third terrorist is lying just across the LoC along Kilpara Nar, a defence spokesman said.
The road to the battle zone is desolate and littered with rocks and boulders with hardly any sign of human life. Columns of army trucks carrying heavily-armed soldiers to the Shala Bhata break the eerie calm. Several kilometers up on the mountains, a nerve-racking situation prevails with the army preparing for a kill to cleanse the area off infiltrators.
Brigade-size troops backed by fresh reinforcements of special forces are now eyeball to eyeball with 30 to 40 well-entrenched Pakistani militants and special troops, who are receiving regular supplies from across the Line of Control to sustain and take on the might of the Indian Army.
For the past 11 days, the armys response has been calibrated. Given the topography of the area, possible danger is lurking behind the boulders, pine trees and thick vegetation where the militants have taken cover.
Shala Bhata, a ghost village termed as barbad gam (destroyed hamlet) by the locals, has suddenly flashed on the security radar of the army. Nestled in the mighty mountains, Shala Bhata, once a peaceful hamlet housing not more than 50 families, is now a hotly contested piece of land. The villagers had migrated to Pakistan during the early nineties as the area became the favorite infiltration route for militants.
The village extends to the other side of the LoC, which the locals call Pak Shala. Locals say Pak Shala houses Pakistan army posts with little presence of civilians. That explains the supply chain to the infiltrators at Shala Bhata.
Sources said the infiltrators and the army are exchanging heavy volume of gunfire at Lodder Post. The militants and the army have been fighting intense battle near this post for the last so many days, said a soldier who returned from the war zone.
Along with thousands of troops that have been mobilized, the local units serving in the hinterland too have been directed to spare some of their men to augment the forces. Top army commanders have moved from their offices in Kupwara district to command the operations.
Since the face-off started, the army has restricted the movement of the people living close to the LoC. We have been asked not to venture out of our homes after dusk. The bakerwals (shepherds) have also been asked to restrict their movement, said Bashir Ahmad Khawaja, a local resident, here.
Meanwhile, the Pakistani army opened another front in the same sector by pushing in more militants. However, alert troops foiled their attempts.
A defence spokesman said the militants have suffered heavy losses in the operations in Keran sector. Five soldiers have also sustained injuries.
The terrain in the area of operation is rugged, forested and high altitude with heights varying between 9000 to 10,000 feet, which necessitated deliberate operations to ensure minimal casualty to own
troops and at the same time flush out remaining surviving militants. The entire area has been effectively cordoned off by the army, thereby pinning down the militants within the cordon, the spokesman said.
As tense stand-off continues, pressure is mounting on the Indian Army to do a Kargil (evict Pakistan backed-infiltrators and special troops like the troops did in 1999). The intermittent firing is going on. The operation against the ultras is continuing said Naresh Vij, defence spokesman at Srinagar.
Pak army opens another front
Pakistan army on Friday opened another front in Keran sector when it tried to push in a group of militants from the adjacent Gujjurtur area. However, troops foiled their attempts and killed three of them in the early hours of Friday. Three militants were eliminated. Two dead bodies have been recovered along with three AK 47 rifles, four pistols, one Yeasu radio set. The body of third terrorist is lying just across the LoC along Kilpara Nar, a defence spokesman said.
