Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) has said a “handful” of its men inflicted heavy casualties on the Indian Army in a “fierce” gunfight at Gurez in north Kashmir’s Bandipora district on Tuesday. Lashkar spokesperson Dr Abdullah Ghaznavi in a statement said that, “Earlier today, a fierce battle took place at Gurez between a handful of our mujahideen and thousands of Indian Army troops who despite being in massive numerical superiority resorted to heavy weaponry, artillery bombardment and support from unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).” “Despite all this, our mujahideen inflicted heavy casualties on the Indian Army which itself has accepted that an officer of the rank of Major and 3 soldiers were killed,” he said. Ghaznavi said “our post-battle assessment reports suggest that 12-16 Indian troops including 2 ranking officers were killed during the face off”. “The Indian Army quickly retreated to its safe zones and resorted to use of heavy weaponry and artillery bombardment from the safety of its bases. The massive bombardment was ineffective as is usually the case. The complete details of the battle assessment report will be released later,” the LeT spokesperson said.