The Indian Army has gunned down three suspected terrorists trying to infiltrate into Jammu and Kashmir less than a week before India marks Republic Day, celebrated on 26 January.
According to a senior army official, the Pakistani troops started heavy shelling in the Khour area in the Akhnoor sector of the Line of Control on Tuesday night to facilitate the infiltration of "terrorists".
“The shelling was done in order to let the terrorists get into the Indian side. However, three terrorists were gunned down while four army soldiers were injured but we managed to foil the infiltration bid", the official said.
He further stated that the operation is still underway, as two other suspected terrorists may have returned or might be hiding in Pakistan-administered Jammu and Kashmir.
Meanwhile, another senior official from the security forces told Sputnik on condition of anonymity that with Republic Day approaching, intelligence agencies have alerted troops of a possible terror attack on or around that particular occasion.
"In order to create unrest, our neighbouring countries, especially Pakistan will try to send in terrorists to carry out attacks. However, we will not let them be successful in their plan", the official said.
He also mentioned that security agencies had alerted the Border Security Force and the army about the infiltration bids.
"The armed forces have increased the number of outposts in the areas near the borders while the local Jammu and Kashmir Police are conducting search operations across the valley on daily basis", he added.
India shares a 3,323 km-long border with Pakistan, of which 221 km of the International Border (IB) and 740 km of the Line of Control (LoC) falls in Jammu and Kashmir.
