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Operation stepped up to flush out militants in Kathua

By Luv Puri and agencies

Kathua Sept. 3. An operation to flush out Lashkar-e-Taiba militants holed up in an area in Kathua district's Ghati village, which began on Tuesday, has so far claimed the lives of a soldier and four others. Nine security personnel, two village defence guards and six police personnel were injured, even as the encounter continued late today evening.

In other incidents in Jammu and Kashmir, security forces killed seven militants and lost three of their men today.

The security forces had trapped the militants, who intruded from Shakergarh tehsil of Pakistan last evening, after a local tipped off the police about their presence in the village. As security forces surrounded the area, the militants lobbed a grenade, injuring a police head constable.

Throughout last night, reinforcements of the Army, the police and the Central Reserve Police Force continued to arrive in the village.

The area, which has dense vegetation, has been converted into a war zone.

Senior police and Army officers are at the site monitoring the operations. The strategy is to make the militants exhaust their ammunition. Since last night, the militants have been making repeated attempts to break the cordon set up by the security forces. They are resorting to firing intermittently to save their ammunition. A senior police camping at the encounter site said, "It is a battle of wits and we got to be patient in this encounter."

The Army had begun using heavy firepower, including rocket-launchers, sources said.

In Banihal area of Jammu region, the Army killed two terrorists and recovered an AK rifle and a pistol. In other encounters in Anantnag, Kupwara and Baramulla districts, four LeT militants were killed and three securitymen injured.

The tip-off

It was the sheer courage and presence of mind of Varinder Khajuria that averted a major militant strike on the security forces in Kathua. Further, the information furnished by him helped the security forces to launch combing operations in Ghati village.

On Monday night, Khajuria was kidnapped by six armed militants from Danoh area. He was held captive for several hours before he escaped and informed a sarpanch of the happenings.

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