Security forces scale up anti-terror operations

Several militants including Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi’s nephew have been killed by the forces.

The Army and the security forces, along with the Special Operations Group (SOG) of J&K Police have intensified anti-militant operations in Kashmir and have killed several militants including the the divisional commander of the Lashkar-e-Tayyaba , who, according to the police, was a nephew of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack mastermind Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi.

The anti-militancy grid has started state-wide operations after months of unrest during which people were not allowing them to set up cordons in the villages. Even in the recent operation in Pahalgam, security forces used force after the locals tried to break their cordon in the area. The operations have been restarted after Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti said that AFSPA would be lifted only when the security forces would successfully liquate all militants active on the ground.

In the sub-zero temperatures and heavy snow, the security forces killed three Hizbul Mujahideen militants on Monday in Awoora village of Pahalgam in South Kashmir. Hundreds of people including a large number of women tried to break the security cordon to help the militants escape. The security forces fired in the air and used tear-gas shells to chase the people away.

According to the local newspapers, Adil Reshi, a 23-yearold militant from Mehbooba Mufti’s hometown Bijbehara, belonged to a rich family with many business interests in the town. The newspapers quoted Adil’s father as saying, before his son’s funeral procession, that his son called him during the gunfight and willed that he should be buried next to his militant friend.

On a tip off, the security forces also killed the divisional commander of the Lashkar-e-Tayyaba at Hajin in North-West Bandipora district. According to the police, Abu Musaib was responsible for many attacks on the security forces in Kashmir. Three snowfalls in the first three weeks of January have brought life to a standstill in Kashmir. In addition to the chilling winter, there are power cuts of up to 10 hours every day.

This has led to protests in dozens of places in the Kashmir valley. The weather department has predicted that there will be another week of heavy rains and snow, but the government has said it is prepared to deal with it and the National Highway, which was closed more than four times in the past two weeks, would be kept open.

The opposition National Conference and the Congress have blamed the government for failing to restore road connectivity and electric supply in most areas across the state.

Congress leader Nawang Rigzin Jora, who pointed to the hardship faced by the Ladakhi people, alleged that power was being supplied to the Army and not to the villagers in Ladhak. Even the ruling PDP MLAs said that people were left to fend for themselves in this harsh winter.

Meanwhile, the government has managed to allow stranded vehicles to reach the Kashmir Valley via the National Highway after it was closed due to heavy snowfall. Reports said that fresh landslides at different parts of the National Highway, especially between Ramban and Ramsu, have made it difficult for the government to make traffic possible on both ways.