LeT owns up to Kupwara, Army fears worst not over

Source: IBNLIVE

New Delhi: Terrorist outfit Lashkar-e-Toiba has claimed responsibility for the six-day long gunbattle between the Indian Army and terrorists in Kupwara, Jammu and Kashmir.

Seventeen terrorists and eight Armymen are reported to have been killed in the gunbattle – one of the bloodiest in recent months.

The LeT on Tuesday sent a letter to a local newspaper in Kashmir last night owning up to the encounter. In the letter to Kashmiri daily Rising Kashmir, LeT spokesman Dr Abdullah Gaznavi writes, “We received prior information about the army movement and laid an ambush in the forest. Indian forces have lost 25 army men including a Major while 50 of them have been injured. Ten LeT Mujahideen also achieved martyrdom in the gunfight. India should understand that the freedom struggle in Kashmir is not over. It is active with full force”.

While firing in the area has stopped, combing operation is on in the area. Four AK-47 rifles and some ammunition have also been recovered from the site.

Among those killed are Major Mohit Sharma, a decorated Army officer and a 19-year-old trooper of the special forces Shabir Malik.

In a press conference organised by the Indian Army on Wednesday, Brigadier Gurmeet Singh confirmed the death toll and said most terrorists had been gunned down.

“The weapons that have been recovered from the terrorists in the two encounters signal that they were trained,” Singh said adding the infiltrators included “foreign militants”.

In what seemed to be a confirmation of Gaznavi’s warning, Brig Singh said Army feared an infiltration attempt by 300-400 terrorists in the area.