Bandipora CASO, no fresh contact established with hiding militant

Srinagar: Government forces continued massive Cordon and Search Operation (CASO) on Tuesday in the woods in north Kashmir district of Bandipora, where a group of militants are hiding, official sources said.
There was no fresh contact with the militants after two soldiers were injured in the exchange of fire on Monday in the woods, official sources said.
They said with the first light this morning security forces resumed searches in the dense forest in Bandipora , where a group of militants are hiding. The operation was halted last night and resumed this morning, they said adding more troops from other nearby camps have also joined the searches.
The entire forest has been sealed to foil any militant attempt to escape, they said adding CASO was going on when the reports last came in.
Meanwhile, soldiers are also conducting searches near Line of Control (LoC) in Keran sector, where troops killed six infiltrators immediately after they crossed over to this side from Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK) early Sunday morning. A senior Army officer said the slain militants were highly trained and heavily armed.
This was the fourth infiltration attempt by militants from POK during the past few weeks. With these killing about 16 militants were killed after they sneaked into this side in north Kashmir during the past few weeks. However, a soldier was martyred and another was injured in one of the encounter.
A large number of militants are waiting at launch pads near LoC to infiltrate into this side from POK during summer month. However, troops are already on high alert and have intensified ground and night patrolling to scuttle any attempt by militants to enter this side.