4 Pakistani Terrorists Killed In PoK Blast During Infiltration Attempt

Four Pakistani terrorists, including a top Lashkar-e-Taiba commander, were killed in a landmine blast while attempting to infiltrate into India through the KG Sector, Line of Control, in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir.

The powerful explosion caused by an improvised explosive device (IED) rocked a forward village along the Line of Control (LoC) in the Krishna Ghati sector of Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district on Monday.

The terrorists have been identified as residents of Mandla, Madarpur, Tehsil Hajira, District Poonch (PoJK) and have been confirmed as Muhammad Ishtiaq, Muhammad Faizan (top LeT commander), Muhammad Waqas and Muhammad Asim.

The blast occurred in the Satwal-Naki area near the LoC when a group of people on the Pakistan side of the LoC tried to infiltrate into India, officials said.

The incident has triggered heightened security measures.

Satwal-Naki is considered to be a traditional infiltration route. In the past few years, terrorists have made attempts to sneak into the Indian side of the border through the route.

Officials said the circumstances leading to the explosion are yet to be established.

In the past, too, six to seven members of Pakistan's BAT team were killed in a similar manner in this area.

Following the explosion, security forces sounded an alert across the sector and intensified vigilance along the LoC to assess the situation and prevent any possible security breach, officials said.

In a separate development, Indian Army troops on Monday detected two rusted landmines near the border fence in Basoni area of Mendhar sector.

The landmines were spotted during track construction at 8.25 am and 12.10 pm, officials said, adding that both explosive devices were later destroyed by Army experts in a controlled explosion.

The forward areas along the LoC are dotted with landmines as part of an anti-infiltration system. However, heavy rainfall can sometimes wash away the mines, causing them to surface in areas where they may pose a potential risk.