Day after ambush, Army chief reviews Valley security ops

A DAY after three soldiers were killed in a militant attack in south Kashmir’s Shopian district, Army chief General Bipin Rawat chaired a high-level security review meeting in the Valley on Friday. The issue of stone-pelting during security operations was discussed at the meeting, the Army said.

Rawat arrived in Srinagar on Thursday, hours after the militant attack. Soon after his arrival, he met the injured soldiers at Army Hospital in Badami Bagh.

On Friday, the Army chief, accompanied by Northern Army and Chinar Corps Commanders, Lt Gen D Anbu and Lt Gen J S Sandhu, respectively, visited Victor and Kilo Force Headquarters where he was briefed on the prevailing security situation and the recent operations in south and north Kashmir.

“The chief also reviewed the collaborative measures of security forces towards ensuring peace and calm in the region and interacted with local commanders and troops urging them to continue discharging their duty with utmost professionalism,’’ an Army spokesperson said.

The spokesperson added that Rawat also discussed the issue of stone-pelting and “impressed upon all to synergise efforts with the other agencies in dealing with such situations effectively”.

The Army chief paid tributes to Lance Naik Ghulam Mohiuddin Rather, Sepoy Vikas Singh Gurjar and Sapper Sreejith M J, who were killed in the ambush Thursday.

Rather was buried in his ancestral village, Mirhama, in south Kashmir with full military honours. Rather is survived by his wife and a three-year-old son. Hundreds of people attended his funeral.