Terrorists killed in Rafiabad forests came from PoK: Indian Army

The Indian Army said on Friday the five foreign Lashkar-e-Toeba terrorists killed in the four-day-long operation in Rafiabad forests had infiltrated recently from Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) breaching the Line of Control (LoC).

"Analysis of the recovered items suggests that the group belonged to Lashkar-e-Toeba (LeT). The group had probably infiltrated recently along the LOC from PoK. We believe all of them were foreign terrorists," said Brigadier Dharam Raj Rai, Commander 7-Sector Rashtriya Riffles.

Brigadier Rai said, based on specific intelligence about the presence of terrorists in higher reaches of Rafiabad, a large-scale search operation was launched by the security forces in the jungles and adjoining areas on August 5.

"On August 7, sources indicated the presence of terrorists in Lidder-Panzal. Based on this input, a search operation was launched in the area. On August 8, at about 10 am, while cleansing the area, troops opened fire at terrorists hiding in the jungle. One soldier got injured and was evacuated to a hospital by a helicopter. In the ensuing fight, five heavily-armed terrorists were eliminated by the security forces," he said.

On detailed search of the area, four AK 47 rifles, one pistol and a large amount of war-like and sustenance stores were recovered. Brigadier Rai said the equipment recovered from them has been sent for analysis. "Once we get the report we can confirm where they had infiltrated from," he said.