Anti-terror ops resume in Kashmir

The counterinsurgency operations in Kashmir are likely to be resumed soon as intelligence inputs available with the authorities suggest that not only have local militants regrouped in some of the Valley areas during the past over fifty days but also a “considerable” number of their foreign partners may have sneaked in from across the border lately.

However, J&K director general of police Dilbag Singh recently claimed that there are no reports of any fresh recruitment of Kashmiri youth joining the militant ranks.

The security forces’ pressure on militants only eased after August 5 when the Centre stripped Jammu and Kashmir of its special status and split the state into two Union Territories. Even though the Valley and parts of Jammu region remained under security lockdown for weeks, no formal cordon-and-search operations were conducted by the Army or other security forces in any of the Valley areas, not even in its southern districts which are known as the hotbed of militancy, during past more than seven weeks.

However, on August 20, a Lashkar-e-Tayyaba militant Momin Gojri and a J&K special police officer Bilal Ahmed were killed and sub-inspector Amar Deep Parihar and an Army jawan were injured in a fire fight in Ganai Hamam locality. This was the first such clash between militants and security forces since August 5. But the officials privately say that it was a “chance encounter” only.