1 soldier killed, 1 injured in attack on patrol along LoC
A soldier was killed and another injured in a militant attack on an army patrol near the Line of Control (LoC) in Keran sector of Kupwara district of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) on Thursday.
The attack comes on a day when Union home minister Rajnath Singh is in Kashmir on a two-day visit to review the security situation in the Valley and on the LoC.
Officials said militants attacked the army patrol near the LoC fencing in Keran sector.
Two soldiers were injured in the incident, which was retaliated to by Army personnel, said defence spokesman Colonel Rajesh Kalia.
However, later it was learnt through sources that one of the injured soldier succumbed to his injuries at the Base hospital in Srinagar.
The army, meanwhile, has not revealed if it was a hit-and-run attack or if the infiltrators had targeted the regular army patrol close to the LoC fence.
Since the unilateral Ramzan ceasefire was announced by the Centre last month, there have been at least three big encounters near the LoC in Kupwara sector in which 10 militants have been killed so far. Earlier, Army had said all the militants killed were foreigners, however, later two turned out to be youngsters from Pulwama district whose bodies were exhumed on Wednesday and handed over to their families.
Recently, Brigadier PK Mishra, commander Tangdhar Brigade, had revealed that the army has strong intelligence inputs that many infiltrators are waiting at the launching pads close to the Line of Control.
“There are many groups of infiltrators who are waiting for an opportunity to infiltrate. This group even sneaked close to the Pakistani post,’’ the officer said.
After the fresh infiltration, Army has stepped up vigil along the LoC especially in north Kashmir’s Kupwara sector. Meanwhile, a militant attempt to loot the cash van of J&K bank was foiled by alert jawans in south Kashmir.
Images of Amit Shah reaching out to allies should’ve been routine. Instead, they’ve become exceptions, which is why the BJP President’s meetings with alliance partners this week looks like a rearguard action to show the National Democratic Alliance as one composite entity.
Indeed, this is a case of the BJP chief seeking to shut the stable door after the horse has bolted. The Telugu Desam Party’s Chandrababu Naidu has quit the alliance. Others including the Shiv Sena, the Akali Dal and a few caste-based outfits in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar are in deep sulk. The Janata Dal (United) has also moved early to seek primacy in seat sharing in the general elections. These are unwanted, eminently avoidable fissures in the ruling conglomerate.
Elections are a year away. The BJP’s outreach is expedient and is based on the oft-used “better late than never” premise. Alliances being live-in arrangements buoyed by popular approval, it is hard to predict the extent to which Shah can undo the damage. The form in which the NDA will enter the poll arena a year down the road will be shaped by the ruling alliance’s traction on the ground.
What should worry the leadership more is the unintended fallout from the intra-NDA rapprochement.
It represents, in perceptional terms, a veritable deconstruction (or rollback) of the BJP’s slogan of “Modi versus the Opposition” gang-up for 2019. The potent line could resonate less in the backdrop of Shah smoking the peace-pipe with estranged alliance partners.
The Prime Minister’s adversaries can now posit the contest as one between them and an alliance that’s unhappy and disunited in his stewardship.
Experience tells us that such
SRINAGAR: AFTER THE FRESH INFILTRATION, ARMY HAS STEPPED UP VIGIL ESPECIALLY IN NORTH KUPWARA SECTOR