Jammu, Feb 27 (IANS): The Indian Army on Thursday denied some media reports that said the army had suffered casualties in terrorist firing in Jammu and Kashmir’s Akhnoor sector.

The firing had taken place on Wednesday. A defence statement said, “Terrorists opened fire at an Indian Army convoy in Sunderbani, Akhnoor, yesterday. The firing was ineffective, and our own troops responded swiftly. Some social media handles are falsely claiming casualties to own troops. This is false and deliberate disinformation. Search operations are presently underway to neutralize the perpetrators.”

Reports said that terrorists fired at a vehicle of the Army in the Sunderbani area of the Akhnoor sector, but no casualty was reported in the attack.

Joint forces had started massive searches in the area after the incident on Thursday, but there were no reports of any ‘contact’ (exchange of fire) with the terrorists.

Due to scant snowfall on the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir this winter, intelligence agencies said all the traditional infiltration routes of the terrorists have remained open. To thwart infiltration from across the LoC, the army and the security forces are maintaining high vigilance on the LoC and the hinterland.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah chaired two top-level security review meetings on Jammu and Kashmir in Delhi earlier this month.

The Home Minister ordered the security forces to ensure zero infiltration and zero tolerance for terrorists.

Lt. Governor Manoj Sinha also chaired two security meetings, one in Srinagar and the other in Jammu. The L-G directed police and the security forces to dismantle the terror ecosystem by targeting terrorists, their overground workers (OGWs) and sympathisers.

L-G Manoj Sinha said that the funds generated by hawala rackets, drug smuggling and drug peddling are finally used to sustain terrorism in J&K, and the war against drugs is also to be seen as the war against terrorism in Jthe union territory.