Army foil BAT attack along LoC in Naugam sector of Jammu and Kashmir

Army on Monday claimed to have foiled a BAT action along the Line of Control (LoC) in Naugam sector of north Kashmir's Baramulla district by killing two attackers.

“Army foiled a major BAT attempt to strike a forward post along the LoC in Naugam in the early hours of 30 December 2018,” Defence spokesperson said and added that the intruders attempted to move by exploiting the thick jungles close to LoC and were assisted by heavy covering fire of high calibre weapons such as mortars and rocket launchers from the Pakistani posts.

However, he said that the movement was nonetheless detected by the vigilant Indian Army troops deployed along the LoC. The fire-fight initiated by Pakistan was given strong retaliation by Indian Army and the exchange of fire continued the whole night.

During the prolonged searches in the thick jungles and difficult terrain, two bodies of likely Pakistani soldiers were recovered along with a large cache of warlike stores,” the spokesperson said.

He said that "while the search operations are still underway to sanitise the area, it was reported that a few other intruders managed to escape across the LoC, taking advantage of the Pakistani firing and adverse weather and visibility conditions.”

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“The attackers were wearing combat dresses like Pakistani regulars and were carrying stores with Pakistani markings. Some intruders were also seen in BSF and old pattern IA (Indian Army) dresses as part of the deception. They had intruded well equipped with IEDs, incendiary materials, explosives, and a plethora of arms and ammunition,” he added.

"From the recovery, it was estimated that they intended to carry out a gruesome attack on the Indian Army forward post in Naugam sector," he said.

The spokesperson said that the Army will ask Pakistan to take back the mortal remains of deceased “likely Pakistani soldiers since Pakistan did provide full covering fire support to these intruders.”

Army sources said that the Army had specific leads suggesting that the Pakistan Army, along with militants, had concentrated in Naugam sector on its side to target Indian posts along the LoC.

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