Four Militants Killed in J&K’s Uri, Foiling 2016-Type Attack

The encounter took place after the Army and police started searches in Kalgai area this morning.

File photo of armed forces taking their positions during an encounter. 

(Photo: PTI)

The army foiled a major terrorist attempt in the Uri area of Kashmir’s Baramulla district in the early hours of 24 September, killing four militants.

Judging by the kind of IED, arms and ammunition recovered from the slain militants, the attack was planned to be on the scale of the Uri attack from September 2016 left 19 soldiers dead and several others injured, the army said.

Alert officers intercepted the militants while they were on the move and upon firing they took shelter in several houses. Two hostages were rescued and the population was cleared by the security forces in a systematic manner.

Three militants were killed on Sunday, while the fourth was neutralised on Monday.

The militants were possibly foreign and were well equipped and planned to carry out a major attack in the Kalgai camp.

Harpreet Singh, Army Deputy Commander (Uri Brigade)

"Three militants have been killed in the operation while one soldier has sustained injures," the official said, adding that three civilians were also injured in the gunbattle.

Director General of Police SP Vaid said the militants were planning a "suicide" attack like the one carried out on an Army base in Uri last year.

"A big tragedy has been averted. Like the suicide attack on the Army base last year, they (militants) had similar plans this time, but the police and the Army got the information beforehand. A joint operation is going on to neutralise the ultras," he said on the sidelines of an event in Srinagar.

On 18 September last year, four militants stormed in at the Army brigade headquarters in Uri, close to the Line of Control, killing 19 soldiers before getting killed.