Indian soldiers on Saturday encountered and killed 10 heavily armed terrorists in separate border areas of J&K.

Indian soldiers on Saturday encountered and killed 10 heavily armed terrorists in separate border areas of J&K. Officials say equipment and technology — ground sensors and electrified fences along the LoC — have made it difficult to infiltrate and driven terrorists to desperation. The terrorists have started taking greater risks by trying to sneak into the Valley in March and April, instead of the traditional infiltration season between May and August when the snow-bound routes across the LoC are fully open. Defence spokesman Lt Col J S Brar said six terrorists were killed in an ongoing operation against the infiltrators at Keran along the LoC in north Kashmir’s Kupwara district. Earlier, three terrorists were killed in the operation that Army’s 12 JAK Rifles launched in a densely forested area on Wednesday evening. ‘‘One terrorist was killed on Wednesday while two more were killed on Thursday,’’ a source said. The operation was launched when security forces noticed the movement of some terrorists in the area, who are believed to have been part of a group that sneaked into India from PoK on Wednesday. The spokesman said the operation was on when the reports last came in. ‘‘A search operation is still in progress and the identity of the slain terrorists is yet to be ascertained.’’ In another encounter at Kalakote in Rajouri district, security forces killed two Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists, following a tip-off from the army’s Counter-Intelligence and Surveillance Unit. Defence spokesman Lt Col Biplabh Nath said arms, ammunition and sophisticated navigation equipment, including a GPS device, a satellite phone, a compass and a matrix sheet, were recovered from the two terrorists — Abu Soraab and Abu Osama. Around the same time, two more LeT terrorists, including a battalion commander, were killed along the banks of Merul river in the neighbouring Poonch district. The defence spokesman identified the two as Rehmatullah and Nisar Ahmed. ‘‘The slain terrorists were responsible for reviving the LeT in Kishtwar district,’’ he said. CISU has warned of an increase in the infiltration attempts from across the border. Apart from the technology, the security forces have also over the years effectively countered infiltration, thanks to effective human intelligence gathering. The success reflects in the considerable decrease in violence in J&K. In 2009, the violence dipped
by around 20% to its lowest levels since 1989. Seventeen terrorists and eight soldiers were killed in March last year in a protracted gunbattle along the LoC in Kupwara. The battle to thwart the heavily-armed terrorist mini-incursion had lasted five straight days and broken a lull that had set in as snow blocked the infiltration routes. J&K CM Omar Abdullah had said last year that earlier, the rule of infiltration was that it was nonexistent during the winter months. June to September used to be the peak infiltration season, before the passes closed up yet again. Now, March-April is seen as the peak infiltration, when the snow starts melting and makes the ground sensors dysfunctional.