Machil Operation Near Line Of Control Still Underway: Officials

The BSF today said the encounter between security forces and militants in Machil sector of Kupwara in Jammu and Kashmir that began yesterday, is still under way. Four security personnel, including an army officer, have been killed.

A top BSF officer described the Machil incident as a “big infiltration bid” that was successfully foiled by the Indian security forces. “The area constitutes a tough terrain and uneven ground. To rule out the presence of other militants, sanitization and mopping-up operation are still unde rway in the area,” the BSF official added.

On Sunday, an army captain, two soldiers and a BSF jawan were killed in an encounter in J&K’s Machil area along the Line of Control (LoC), around 150km north of Srinagar. Three unidentified militants were also gunned down in the operation.

Talking to reporters at the BSF headquarters in Srinagar, additional director-general of BSF Surinder Pawar said exchange of fire between the BSF and infiltrating militants started early on Saturday morning when BSF personnel intercepted a group of infiltrators in the Machil area. He said the BSF jawans noticed suspicious movement of three militants at Machil sector after which a BSF team led by two constables, Sudir Kumar and Abdul, challenged the militants. He said one of the militants fired at constable Sudir wounding him critically. The exchange of fire, which started at 1am, continued till 4.30am. The constable died of his injuries later.

Pawar said later on Sunday, an army reinforcement operation was launched and two militants were killed. “In the exchange of fire that took place, army Captain Ashutosh Kumar and two soldiers were killed,” he added.

Pawar also said that BSF had received intel in advance about a possible infiltration bid as a BSF patrol team had noticed movement of militants on the night November 7. Lauding the robust anti-infiltration mechanism put in place by various security agencies to tackle infiltration, the ADG said this year only 25 to 30 militants managed to sneak through when compared to 135 to 140 last year.