Govt reviews J&K situation, set to beef up operations
Anti-militancy operations will be further intensified in Jammu and Kashmir, with security forces being instructed to eliminate those who continue to indulge in violence in the state, officials said.
The directive was given on Wednesday after a review of the security situation in the state during a high-level meeting in the wake of recent episodes of violence in the Valley where several security personnel were killed.
The meeting, chaired by home minister Rajnath Singh and attended by defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman, National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and top officials of the ministries of home and defence, gave instructions to security forces to take action against militants, a home ministry official said.
The operations against the militants will continue even though the Centre has appointed a special representative — former Intelligence Bureau chief Dineshwar Sharma — to initiate talks with all stakeholders in an effort to bring lasting peace in J&K, the official said.
J&K director general of police SP Vaid had recently said around 170 militants were gunned down by security forces in the state this year. Two army soldiers were killed and a CRPF jawan suffered injuries in an encounter in Pulwama district on November 2.
Three militants were gunned down in Pulwama in an encounter in which an army jawan was also killed on November 6. Three militants, including Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Maulana Masood Azhar’s nephew, were gunned down by security forces in Pulwama district on November 7.
On November 9, militants shot at and injured a policeman in Anantnag district. They also attacked two police vehicles in separate incidents at Qazigund and Anantnag on November 10.
An army jawan and a militant were killed in an encounter in Kulgam district on Tuesday.
NEW DELHI/ISLAMABAD:
CEASEFIRE VIOLATION Pakistani troops on Wednesday opened fire and shelled areas along the LoC in Poonch district of J&K, drawing heavy retaliation from the Indian Army. The firing is still on, a defence spokesman said. “Pakistan Army initiated unprovoked and indiscriminate firing of small arms, automatics and mortars from 0815 hours in Poonch sector along the LoC,” the spokesman said.
Meanwhile, Pakistan summoned India’s deputy high commissioner JP Singh over alleged “ceasefire violations” by Indian troops, which resulted in the death of an elderly woman.