The Indian Army has recovered a surface-to-air missile from a terrorist hideout in the Kashmir Valley.

This is probably the first time that the Kashmiri terrorists have been found in possession of a missile.

According to a senior army officer, the missile was dug out from a mud pit, after an army team raided a terrorist base in the Mallapur forests in Kupwara.

The missile was an ANZA- MK I, found exclusively in the Pakistan Army's inventory. "It only shows the direct involvement of the Pakistani army in arming and aiding Kashmiri terrorists," the senior army officer said.

The four-feet-eight inches SAM, with 80-millimeter diameter, weighed some 15 kilograms with a 9.8 kg warhead.

The missile's recovery marks a significant shift in the capability of Kashmiri terrorists, who till now used Kalanishkovs, Chinese pistols, hand grenades, IEDS and RDX.