Police personnel clear a road blocked by protesters after the funeral prayers for one of the three militants, who were killed in a fierce overnight encounter with security forces in Budgam district, at Hyderpora in Srinagar on Wednesday. PTI

Srinagar, July 12

Two soldiers were killed today as Pakistani troops, violating the ceasefire, resorted to firing along the Line of Control (LoC) in the remote mountainous Keran sector of Kupwara. The Army did not elaborate on the intensity of the firepower by the Pakistani troops. Since the past few weeks, the Pakistani army has been shelling border villages and forwards posts of the Indian Army in Rajouri and Poonch districts of Jammu.(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)Meanwhile, the security forces have launched a hunt for Pakistani national and Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) commander Abu Ismail, the brain behind the terror attack on Amarnath pilgrims on Monday, a senior police official said. The government has sounded the “highest alert” across Jammu and Kashmir.Proactive operations have been launched, mainly in south Kashmir, to track down Ismail with investigations,  including communication intercepts, pointing to his involvement in the attack.The official said the Anantnag attack appeared to be in retaliation against the killing of several LeT terrorists, including top commander Bashir Lashkari, earlier this month.”Frustrated at back-to-back losses in the counter-insurgency operations over the past month or so, they are now attacking civilians and tourists,” he said. A Home Ministry official in Delhi indicated that the anti-terror operations would be stepped up.Meanwhile, a central ministerial team comprising Minister of State in the PMO Jitendra Singh and Minister of State for Home Affairs Hansraj Ahir held extensive discussions with the security top brass, Governor NN Vohra and Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti.They discussed the security situation in detail before a security review with the local Army commander, Chief Secretary, the police chief and senior CRPF and BSF officers.