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LT warns of fresh attacks on Indian Army

SRINAGAR: Banned militant organisation Lashkar-e-Tayyaba on Wednesday warned of fresh attacks against Indian troops, as the Indian Army said a “large number” of guerrillas were poised to infiltrate Indian-held Kashmir (IHK).

Eight soldiers and 17 militants were killed in protracted gun battles that started Saturday in IHK’s Kupwara district, close to the Line of Control (LOC).

Lashkar said its men were involved in the clashes, some of the fiercest in recent years.

“The gun battles should serve as a message to India that the struggle for Kashmir’s freedom is on with full vigour,” Lashkar spokesman Abdullah Ghaznavi said.

He was speaking by telephone to AFP in Srinagar.

Ghaznavi said Lashkar initiated the gunfight by ambushing an army column in the forest area. He said the fighting left 25 Indian soldiers and 10 Lashkar members dead.

The Indian Army said eight soldiers and 17 militants were killed, and that soldiers launched the operation after they were tipped off.

Lashkar has been blamed for the deadly attacks in Mumbai late last year that killed 165 people but it has denied the claims.

The Indian Army confirmed the slain militants were members of Lashkar, adding that more militants were expected to cross into IHK.

“There are likely large numbers of terrorists awaiting infiltration,” Brigadier Gurmit Singh told a news conference in Srinagar.

“We are very well prepared for such contingencies and to deliver utmost strongness in our counter-insurgency and counter-terrorist operations.”

Singh said the maps and GPS recovered from the dead militants indicated that the “state and security forces’ assistance from across (the border in Pakistan) was there”. afp

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