Aijaz Dar
Srinagar: A day after as many as six militants were killed during an encounter with security forces in north Kashmir’s Hajin area, Army today said that about 125-130 militants have been killed in the Valley, resulting in a big change in the on-ground situation. Speaking to media persons, General Officer Commanding (GOC) of 15 Corps Lieutenant General J S Sandhu said, “What we find this year is that we have killed approximately 125-130 militants in the hinterland of Kashmir Valley. This has resulted in a remarkable change in the situation”.
He further said that about 190 militants were killed in 2017 till date and out of them, 80 are local militants and 110 foreigners. “Out of these 110, 66 militants were killed near the LoC while infiltrating”, he added. Talking about Saturday’s encounter, he said that the security forces had launched several operations in Hajin. “We had launched several operations in Hajin and mid-September onwards we were practically launching search ops on a daily basis, had inducted Special Forces into the area,” he said.
Lieutenant General J S Sandhu further said that the CRPF, Army and Jammu and Kashmir Police had launched a joint operation yesterday based on specific information received after which six militants, all of whom were foreigners were killed. “Based on specific information, a joint operation was launched by CRPF, Army, J&K Police in which six militants were eliminated, all were foreign militants. Commend all agencies who worked to ensure the success of the operation”.
Earlier on Saturday, security forces eliminated six foreign militants including the nephew of Lashkar-e-Toiba chief Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, in north Kashmir’s Hajin area.
Since last few days, the Jammu and Kashmir Police and Rashtriya Rifles had launched a number of “cordon and search” operations in Hajin and nearby villages after receiving inputs on the movement of foreign militants in the area.
The Jammu and Kashmir Police and 13 Rashtriya Rifles cordoned off Chandergeer village, which is 5 km from Hajin town. As security forces started entered the village, the militants fired at them from a house. A commando was killed in the gunbattle before security forces eliminated six militants. It was later learnt that these militants had gathered in the house for a meeting.
Asking militants not to be a proxy for Pakistan, Lt Gen J S Sandhu, Corps Commander, Chinar Corps appealed to local ultras to shun the path of violence and once again join the mainstream.
The appeal of Lt Gen Sandhu to local militants was echoed by Director General of Police (DGP) S P Vaid and IG (Operations) of CRPF Zulfiquar Hasan during a joint press conference held at headquarters of 15 crops in Badami Bagh cantonment here on Sunday.
Dr Vaid said it is a very encouraging trend that parents are coming out and appealing to their children, who have joined militant ranks, to shun violence and join the mainstream.
“I would request other mothers to appeal to their children to leave the path of violence and surrender because we don’t want to harm anyone,” the DGP said.
“It is easy to call yourself a Mujahid, but are you a Mujahid? Or are you just a proxy for Pakistan.
Comments are closed.