Soldier killed in firing at army post on LOC

Jammu, Oct 9 (IANS) An Indian Army soldier was killed in firing by infiltrators from Pakistan at a frontier post in Jammu and Kashmir's mountainous Rajouri district late Wednesday night, an army official said.

The army official said that Khanda post on the Line of Control in Rajouri district came under fire late in the night.

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A soldier of 2 Sikh Light Infantry, Amarjeet Singh, was killed before the troops returned the fire.

'It appeared to be fire by a group of militants who were trying to infiltrate into the Indian side from Pakistan,' said an official. The infiltrators seemed to have returned to Pakistan, he said. Asked whether it was firing from the Pakistani troops, Indian army officials replied: 'We do not think it was from Pakistani troops'.

The army launched extensive search operations in the area. Incidents of infiltration attempts are on the rise from Pakistan, both across the International Border and the LOC. This is the fifth such attempt in the past fortnight.

Officials ascribe the spurt in infiltration attempts to the state assembly elections due this year. Many militant groups want to disrupt the poll, and they fear they may not be able to sneak in later as snow covers the passes.