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Drass cleared of infiltrators

The Indian Army has evicted the last of the Pakistani intruders in the Drass sub-sector as fierce fighting in the Kargil sector left 32 infiltrators dead in the last 48 hours, an army spokesman said in New Delhi today.

According to the spokesman, the infiltrators were killed in fighting in Drass, Mushkoh Valley and Batalik.

Seven Indian soldiers were killed in the operations, six of them in mine blasts, and 13 wounded.

The army's operations to evict the infiltrators continued even as External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh held "friendly and productive" talks with US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright in Singapore.

The spokesman said 30 or so infiltrators remain trapped in the Mushkoh Valley and Batalik sub-sectors.

"Our estimate was 50 to 60 infiltrators, but after the 32 killed in the past 48 hours we believe about 30 more infiltrators are still holed up in Mushkoh and Batalik," he said.

The Kargil Crisis

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