Recovery of US-made rifle shows Pak complicity in militancy: Army

SRINAGAR: The recovery of a US-made rifle, meant for Pakistani army, after an encounter with militants in Kashmir, showed the force’s complicity in fuelling insurgency in the Valley, a senior Indian Army officer said on Tuesday.

Major general BS Raju, general officer commanding (GOC) of army’s Victor Force, was referring to the M4 carbine colt rifle recovered from the site of encounter in Pulwama district, where three Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) militants, including its chief Masood Azhar’s nephew, and an army jawan were killed on Monday night.

“This weapon (the M4 carbine) is with the special forces of Pakistan army. So we have reasons to believe that this particular weapon was given by the Pakistani army to JeM cadres. This clearly shows the complicity between JeM and Pakistan and their nefarious designs in Kashmir,” Raju said. Police had said an M4 carbine colt and an AK-47 Draco rifle were recovered from the site of the gunbattle. A photo of a militant flaunting an M4 rifle also went viral in Kashmiri social media circles last week. Raju said this was not the only M4 rifle functional in the region, and 5-10 such weapons could be brought in by infiltrating militants.

However, this is the first M4 carbine recovered in Kashmir. The three militants killed on Monday were identified as Waseem Ganaie, a Pulwama resident, and Pakistani militants Muhammad Bhai, JeM’s south Kashmir divisional commander, and Azhar’s nephew Talha Rashid. A police spokesperson said it was the same group that was wanted for the attack on the police checkpoint a few days ago.

A local news agency in Kashmir, GNS, said a JeM spokesperson confirmed to them the identity of the militants and accepted that Rashid was Azhar’s nephew.

Inspector general of police, Kashmir range, Muneer Khan said: “For the first time, they have owned a Pakistani militant; saying that yes, he is the nephew of Masood Azhar. Now, we will take up the matter through proper channels and, very firmly, request that please claim body and please take the body.”