The Army said on Friday it has killed as many as 28 Islamic militants in firefights along the Line of Control (LoC) in Kashmir Valley and in the hinterland during past two months and found over a dozen AK assault rifles besides pistols and grenades on them.
Lt. Gen. Gurmit Singh, the GOC of the Srinagar-based 15 (Chinar) Corps, told reporters that two militants were killed in Keran sector of Kupwara district on Thursday. The (Pakistani) national identification card found on one of the slain men identifies him as Syed Kasim Shah from PoK.
The militant’s ID card shows he was born in 1958, which indicates older militants are being pushed in the Valley “in a bid to revive militancy after a dip in the past two year”. The officer also said that in the past fortnight 15 militants were killed while the Army battles increased attacks and ceasefire violations along the LoC, mainly in Poonch sector, from Pakistan.
He said, “Since the Hyderpora (Srinagar) attack of June 24 on Army convoy which had killed five soldiers, there have been a series of successful operations both on LoC and in the hinterland area. We have killed 28 terrorists in this period, out of which 18 were eliminated on the LoC and 10 in the hinterland.” He added that eight of the slain militants were those who had earlier been injured and had crossed back to PoK but died immediately on the other side of the LoC. Asked how did he know that, the officer said, “We’ve inputs related to their deaths in those areas.” The Corps commander claimed the “success” in the operations has been a result of “effective counter infiltration grid and integrated intelligence created by different intelligence wings operating in Kashmir.
Replying questions, he said there have not been “significant” ceasefire violations from across the de facto border in the Valley, but attempts to infiltrate “are going to be there” in the coming time. “If you talk about the portion of the LoC in the Kashmir Valley, there have not been any significant ceasefire violations, but attempts to infiltrate are there,” he said.
The officer said however the militants have not given up and would make attempts to sneak in whenever they do get chance in coming days. “Also, I would like to highlight their infrastructure and apparatus close to the launch-pads and their activities indicate that they are going to attempt infiltration in the coming time,” he said.