10 hurt in grenade blast
SRINAGAR, June 5 — Six persons were killed and four militants arrested even as ultras attacked police posts and a security patrol in Jammu and Kashmir since last evening, an official spokesman said here today.

200 Pak soldiers killed: Brig
SRINAGAR, June 5 — Bodies of three Pakistani soldiers killed in Army operations along the Line of Control in the Batalik sector, are being "handed over to Pakistan army at an appropriate place". These bodies were brought to 15 Corps headquarters here on Friday along with arms and documents recovered with the bodies.

Pak stands isolated, says Thakre
JAMMU, June 5 — The Bharatiya Janata Party President, Mr Kushabhau Thakre, today said that India would not give an inch of its land to Pakistan and the country would take every possible step to defend its territories.

Lightning kills two in Jammu
JAMMU, June 5 — Two persons, including a woman, were killed when lightning struck their house in Bhudal area in Rajouri district of Jammu region last night, official sources said here today.

10 hurt in grenade blast

SRINAGAR, June 5 (PTI) — Six persons were killed and four militants arrested even as ultras attacked police posts and a security patrol in Jammu and Kashmir since last evening, an official spokesman said here today.

Two militants gave themselves up, while 10 persons, including three women, received splinter injuries as militants exploded a grenade in the city during the period, the spokesman said.

A foreign mercenary was killed in an encounter in the wee hours during search operations at Ahan village near Ganderbal on the outskirts of Srinagar.

The house of Gulla Mir was damaged in the exchange of fire that lasted seven hours, the spokesman said, adding his accomplices managed to escape.

Two militants were killed in a joint operation of the special operations group (SOG) of the Jammu and Kashmir police and security forces at Rekh-Nar near Lalpora in Kupwara early today.

A militant was killed and two SOG police personnel were injured in another encounter in Bhalar jungles near Arnas in Udhampur district yesterday.

Militants shot dead a woman in her house at Mora-Bichai near Surankote in Poonch last night. The bullet-riddled body of an unidentified person was found at Rakh-Nar in Baramula.

Ten persons, including three women, received splinter injuries as militants exploded a grenade in the Lal Chowk area of the city last evening.

The device was hurled on a security vehicle which missed the intended target and exploded on the road injuring the 10 who were hospitalised.

The police apprehended two boys near a school in Rajbagh locality who were going to throw a pencil bomb into a house in the area. Both boys confessed that a woman wearing a veil had given them the device to throw into the house. She reportedly left in a taxi.

Militants attacked a patrol of the security forces at Hangal Gund near Kandiwara in Doda and a police post at Kallar-Gandoh in Doda yesterday. The police retaliated but there was no report of loss of life.

Two suspected militants were arrested after a raid on their hideout at Kota-Mahasha in Arnina in Jammu yesterday. A detonator and 1 kg of RDX were recovered from the hideout.

Two militants of the banned Hizbul Mujahideen surrendered before the security forces at Salamabad in Uri sector yesterday. They handed over two assault rifles to the authorities.

200 Pak soldiers killed: Brig
Use of napalm bombs denied
Tribune News Service

SRINAGAR, June 5 — Bodies of three Pakistani soldiers killed in Army operations along the Line of Control (LoC) in the Batalik sector, are being "handed over to Pakistan army at an appropriate place". These bodies were brought to 15 Corps headquarters here on Friday along with arms and documents recovered with the bodies.

Those killed have been identified as L/NK Mirbaz Khan and Sepoy Sait Khan of the 4th Northern Light Infantry (4 NLI), and Sepoy Mehboob Ali of 3 NLI of Pakistan army, Brig AK Chopra, BGS 15 Corps headquarters said here this morning. The recoveries included two G3 rifles and one machine gun. NG3, bearing marks of Pakistan Ordinance Factory on these. There were also certain identification documents, identity cards of the soldiers issude by the Pakistan army, and Pakistani soldiers' pay book. However, these individuals did not wear army uniforms to avoid being identified clearly".

"This is a clear proof of Pakistani army intrusions. The bodies of these persons will be handed over to Pakistan army at an appropriate place", Mr AK Chopra, BGS of 15 Corps headquarters told the crowded press conference here. The three individuals were killed on Thursday at Yaldore in the Batalik sector, six to seven km inside the Line of Control (LoC) Brig AK Chopra claimed.

He put the death toll of Pakistani army men at around 200 "on the basis of intelligence reports". "There are lot of bodies lying there because of the heavy firing in between two distinct Armies... a lot of them have been killed", Brig AK Chopra said.

Brig AK Chopra claimed that 51 Indian Army men were killed and 230 others injured in the continuing operations in the Dras-Kargil-Batalik sectors so far. This was in addition to the three IAF officers and two Airmen. He added that 14 Army men were still missing from the area and evaded further queries on their fate.

Replying questions, Brig AK Chopra claimed that the objective of the infiltrators was "to cut off the road axis to Leh and to push infiltrators. They are able to observe the highway and not able to cut it off", he added. He said that operations were going on in Yaldore, Batalik, Dras and Mushkoh sectors along the Line of Control (LoC). "There has not been a breach of the LoC ... we are not gone across the LoC", Brig Chopra clarified. In Yaldore sector the infiltrators were pushed back and the position on the LoC was restored, he added.

'Even in Dras sector we are on the LoC', he added and held that the movement of the intruders beyond the LoC in Chorbatla area had been stopped. Supply lines in many position of the intruders had also been cut off.

The BGS denied the reports that some of the posts had been captured by the intruders. They were pushed back at a number of places and the Army had taken position in the areas that were unheld so far.

Brig Chopra also denied that the Army used a napalm bombs in the ongoing operations in any of these sectors during the past about one month now.

Meanwhile, the IAF did not make air attacks this morning. These were scheduled to be conducted by this afternoon.

PTI adds: The Army has banned the movement of journalists in the Kargil Sector, citing "operational secrecy" as the reason for the same.

The ban was imposed on Friday night, defence sources said.

However, they expressed optimism that the ban may soon be lifted as a battery of scribes and photographers were waiting in the valley to go to Kargil.

They said "certain reservations" expressed by the media about this move had already been conveyed to the authorities concerned and hoped that the media's interests would be kept in mind before arriving at any final decision.

Earlier this month, Defence Minister George Fernandes, during a visit to Kargil, had directed the Army authorities to allow mediapersons to the area.

Meanwhile, journalists camping in the valley have criticised the move and asked Srinagar-based 15th Corps to lift the ban immediately.

The move would hamper free flow of information to millions of Indians and place the Pakistani propaganda machinery at an advantageous position, they said.

Kargil situation
Pak aim to internationalise issue
Tribune News Service

SRINAGAR, June 4 — The intrusion of several hundred armed militants in the Kargil sector is regarded here as a "major failure" and is believed to have been aimed at diverting the attention of the security forces from the valley and internationalise the Kashmir issue.

This, according to sources, was an attempt to infiltrate larger groups of armed militants into the Kashmir valley, while the security forces focused to their attention on Kargil sector. But, the "security forces have managed to obstruct the infiltrators" along the LoC in Kashmir as also in Dras-Kargil-Batalik sectors of Ladakh region. Second, this was done in accordance with the Pakistani plan to internationalise the Kashmir issue as it had failed to continue the proxy war in Kashmir.

The intercepts, according to police sources here, also revealed the intentions of militants to cut off the major routes in the valley, particularly, the Gurez-Bandipore and Bandipore-Kangan road links in north Kashmir. These links are vital from the security point of view. There have been frequent movement of security vehicles on these roads connecting Gurez, on the LoC north Kashmir to Kangan on the Srinagar-Leh highway via Bandipore in north Kashmir.

There were also instructions to the militants to destroy bridges, telephone lines and electricity transformers because they thought the security forces would be moving from the valley to Kargil in view of the situation there since last month. The security forces have been moved from various areas of Kupwara and Baramula districts in north Kashmir for deployment in the trouble-torn Kargil sector. Reinforcements to Kargil was made from the valley for the past more than three weeks. However, the security forces are reported to have made the replacements in the valley to thwart the designs of militants to infiltrate into the valley, police sources here said.

At least 400 to 500 fresh infiltrators have sneaked into the valley this summer after the snow melted down on the high mountain passes in north Kashmir. There have also been reports of infiltration of about 100 militants to Kishtwar through Dras, police sources here revealed. These militants after sneaking through Dras, before the intruders in the Kargil sector were detected, crossed through Baltal-Wadhwan-Kishtwar along the southern ridges of Kashmir valley. However, there have not been any contacts of these fresh militants with the security forces.

Infiltration along the LoC is being made "under the cover of firing" and there has been an increase in the incidents of cross border firing and shelling by Pakistani troops last month. A dozen of places along the borders in Jammu division have witnessed small arms firing during the recent weeks, police sources here disclosed. There have also been incidents of shelling in Keran and Gurez sectors of Kashmir valley, and Poonch areas of Jammu.

Meanwhile, "Operation Vijay" to dislodge the armed intruders in Dras-Kargil-Batalik sectors of Ladakh division has been continuing amid reports of the death of two officers of the Army. These included Lt Col R Vishwanathan and Captain PV Vikram, whose bodies are being brought to Srinagar and sent to Kerala for last rites at their native places.

Three bodies of Pakistani armymen, who have been killed in the heavy exchange of firing on this side of the LoC in Kargil sector, are also being brought here. There was a delay in the shifting of these bodies from the trouble-torn sector due to the bad weather conditions in the area. This is for the first time during the three-week long operations in Kargil sector, that the Army here claimed to have recovered the bodies of three Pakistani soldiers killed in the exchange of firing. The defence officials put the death toll of Pakistani armymen in the operations at around 150.

Pak stands isolated, says Thakre
From Our Correspondent

JAMMU, June 5 — The Bharatiya Janata Party President, Mr Kushabhau Thakre, today said that India would not give an inch of its land to Pakistan and the country would take every possible step to defend its territories.

Addressing a press conference here this morning, the BJP President said the operations would continue in Kargil, Dras and Batalik Sectors till every single infiltrator was flushed out from these areas. The Indian Army had already succeeded in re-capturing several areas held by Pakistani army backed infiltrators.

"Pakistan had thought that by doing this, it would be able to internationalise the Kashmir issue once again but never had it thought that it would again be totally isolated, "said Mr Thakre, adding that Pakistan had once again failed to make gains out of the Kargil situation. This spoke of the success of the BJP foreign policy.

Taking a dig at the Opposition parties, Mr Thakre said there was certain divisive forces in the country which were creating confusion in the minds of the people. He said it were because of these people and the wrong policies of the previous governments that the Kargil situation had arisen in the Kashmir valley. "But now these leaders and political parties stand exposed".

Refusing to comment on state BJP chief Daya Krishan Kotwal's demand for air strikes in the upper reaches of Pir Panjal in Poonch, Rajouri and Doda districts, Mr Thakre said the government's topmost priority was to deal with the situation firmly in Kargil. Criticising the Congress for its demand for the dismissal of Defence Minister George Fernandes, he said it was not right to raise such a demand when the security of the nation was at a risk.

The BJP President said it was unfortunate that the party which had played a significant role in the Indian freedom movement had weakened the nation during its 50 years of misrule.

Mr Thakre also said there was no question of providing a safe passage to the infiltrators and they "would not be allowed to leave without being taught a lesson".

Lightning kills two in Jammu

JAMMU, June 5 (PTI) — Two persons, including a woman, were killed when lightning struck their house in Bhudal area in Rajouri district of Jammu region last night, official sources said here today.

Members of a family were eating their meals last night when the lightning struck their house damaging it partially. Two members of the family died on the spot, the sources said.