Army officer, 2 soldiers, a BSF man, 3 militants killed; Machil gunfight toll 7

Security forces have foiled a major plot of infiltration from Pakistan.  In Sunday's action near the line of control (LOC ) in Jammu and Kashmir, security forces killed three terrorists. However, four soldiers, including a military officer, were killed in the shootout during this period. A BSF jawan is involved in this.

The death toll has so far reached seven in the fierce gun battle as a militant and a BSF trooper were killed earlier.

“During search operation, one more militant was neutralized while in the process one officer identified as Lt. Aujla and 3 soldier of army were killed,” the sources said. “The searches for 3rd militant are under progress,” they added.

The gunfight had ensued early Sunday morning when Border Security Forces intercepted a group of infiltrators in Machil area. A militant and a BSF soldier from 169 battalion, Constable Sarkar, were killed, Deputy Inspector General of BSF R Muthu Krishnan told GNS. Later, he said, army joined the operation.

When contacted, army’s Srinagar based spokesman Col Rajesh Kalia said that a militant was killed in the initial shoot out, further details are awaited. “The details will be shared as officially received,” he said.

"Constable Sudip Sarkar lost his life during the operation in Machil Sector. Reinforcements received from the Indian Army, the Joint operation still underway," said Border Security Force.

The massive gun battle ended at around 4 am in morning by which time the Army moved in reinforcements. The terrorists were again detected at 10:20 am this morning, approximately 1.5 km from the LoC, leading to a fresh gunfight in which an Army Officers and two jawans laid down their lives. Two other jawans who have been injured and, have been evacuated.

The operation is still underway, officials said.

You can connect with Ground Report on Facebook, Twitter and Whatsapp, and mail us at [email protected] to send us your suggestions and writeups