An armed skirmish near the Line of Control in Gurez left six dead early Tuesday, including an army officer, three soldiers and two militants, defence spokesman said.
Colonel Rajesh Kalia said a group of militants tried to infiltrate from across the LoC in Baktoor area, close to Naini post along the northern sector of the dividing line early in the morning, taking advantage of fog and bad weather.
“An infiltration bid has been foiled in Gurez sector. Two militants had been killed in the operation while four soldiers including an officer were also killed,” said Kalia, the Srinagar-based defence spokesperson.
Troops posted at the border post challenged the suspected militants after noticing suspicious movement, triggering an exchange of fire.
During the ensuing gun battle a Major of the Indian Army and three soldiers were killed. Two militants from among the infiltrating group were also killed in the exchange.
The slain soldiers were identified as Major Kaustubh Prakash Kumar Rane, Rifleman MandeepsinghRawat, VikramJeet Singh and Rifleman Hameed Singh.
As the gun battle raged reinforcements including papa commandoes were sent to the area. The army operation was going on till late Tuesday, defence sources said.
INFLICTED HEAVY CASUALTIES ON ARMY: LASHKAR
Militant outfit Lashkar-e-Toiba on Tuesday claimed that army suffered heavy causalities during skirmishes at Gurez near Line of Control in Bandipora district.
“The army itself has accepted that a Major and 3 soldiers were killed , however our post battle assessment reports suggest that 12-16 soldiers, including two officers were killed during the face off,” Lashkar spokesman Dr Abdullah Gaznavi claimed in an e-mailed statement.