The army on Monday said it was engaged in a major operation in Jammu and Kashmir for the second day in a row following what is believed to be the biggest infiltration attempt by terrorists from across the Line of Control in recent years. The army said that a counter-infiltration operation has been underway for the last 30 hours. Reinforcements have been called in and a large area has been cordoned off for over 30 hours.
Internet services and mobile phones have been suspended in the Uri sector of north Kashmir since Monday morning. This is for the first time when phone services and the internet was suspended in the wake of a cross-border infiltration attempt. Officials said an infiltration attempt was detected late Saturday evening, coinciding with the fifth anniversary of the Uri attack in which 19 soldiers were killed after two suicide attackers stormed a military installation on September 18, 2016. This is the second infiltration attempt this year, according to army officials. A senior army commander, however, said that there has been no ceasefire violation this year and no instigation from across the border. India responded with a surgical strike across the Line of Control that took down several terrorist launch pads. Only two infiltration attempts have succeeded. One was neutralised in North Kashmir’s Bandipore. According to government sources in Delhi, a group of around six infiltrators managed to sneak in from Pakistan. A soldier was injured in firing during the infiltration attempt, they said. The army said the operation to track down the infiltrators is underway and the exact situation on the ground is still unclear.
