4 LeT men killed in Jammu on way to Kashmir in truck

JAMMU: Four suspected Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists from Pakistan were killed in an hour-long shootout after security forces stopped a Kashmir-bound truck with a fake registration number in which they were travelling near Sidhra on the outskirts of Jammu early Wednesday.
Seven AK-47 semi-automatics, one M4 carbine, three pistols, bullets and a few grenades were seized from the slain men. The truck caught fire in the heavy exchange, but was doused quickly.
Police said pages carrying the Pakistan-backed outfit’s letterhead were found on the men, indicating they were from the neighbouring country and had crossed over through the

Samba

frontier, hardly a few km from the international border.
The men were yet to be identified.

This was the second busted case of terrorists hitching a truck ride to the Valley through Jammu, after

CRPF

troopers at a highway check post intercepted and killed three Pakistani operatives of the Jaish-e-Mohammed group on November 19, 2020. The truck was stopped at Ban Toll Plaza of Nagrota in Jammu around 5am that day.
Terrorist incursions are known to shoot up during elections in J&K. Local body elections were held in November-December 2020, while the Election Commission has announced polls to panchayat, DDC and municipal corporations in March 2023.
Jammu range ADG Mukesh Singh said Wednesday’s shootout happened under a thick blanket of fog on a bridge across the Tawi river along the Jammu-Srinagar national highway.
“There was an input about a truck and a security team at Sidhra post stopped the vehicle. The driver got down and ran away, while the hiding terrorists opened fire and hurled grenades.”
They were killed in counter-fire by a combined team of

Army

, CRPF and J&K police personnel.
“Security forces are on maximum alert in view of Republic Day,” Singh said. Police defused Monday an IED packed with 15kg of explosives and shrapnel after it was found in Udhampur district.