Five Indian army commandos belonging to the elite Para Special Forces were killed in action along the LoC (Line of Control) in Kashmir’s Keran sector on Sunday after five terrorists opened fire. During an intense close-quarter battle with all the terrorist infiltrators were neutralised.
Three of the commandos were killed at the encounter site while two succumbed to their injuries at the time of airlifting them to a military hospital.
In a statement issued on Monday, the Army said, ‘It was an intense ‘hand-to-hand’ battle. The bodies of the commandos and the terrorists were found barely two to three metres from each other.’
‘The Indian Army launched a daring operation at the LoC and engaged Pakistani-supported infiltrators in a close-quarter battle in heavy snow, neutralising the entire infiltrating batch of five. Four soldiers under the command of a junior commissioned officer from one of the most professional Para SF units were heli-dropped near the LoC after information on the infiltrators was received,’ the statement said.
The army began the search for this batch of terrorists on April 1 when they infiltrated into Kashmir with ground troops reporting footprints near the LoC fence that was covered under the snow, the officer cited above said.
The second officer added, ‘The army then quickly deployed teams to hunt them but extremely difficult terrain and inclement weather prevented any engagement. That’s when the commandos from 4 Para (SF) were called in to take over the operation.’
Based on visuals from unmanned aerial vehicles, the SF troops were staged forward to the nearest battalion headquarters by air as the location was winter cut off due to heavy snow in the are, Live Mint reported.
At the crack of dawn on Sunday, the five commandos began tailing the infiltrators following their footmarks on the snow. Hours later, they reached a water channel. The commandos split up into two squads with one of them unknown to the fact that they were on a cornice.
‘The complete snow block collapsed taking the squad leader and the two scouts down all the way to the channel where the terrorists were sitting… It led to a close-quarter battle at virtually point-blank range,’ the third officer said.
The two commandos in the second squad rushed to provide support to their comrades who were locked in an intense close-quarter fight with the terrorists. In the ensuing engagement, the five commandos were successful in killing all the infiltrators but at the cost of their own lives.
‘Despite the fall, the commandos killed all the terrorists because of their superior training standards,’ the officer further added.
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