Early Times Report
JAMMU, Mar 15: The February 14 Pulwama massacre of 40 CRPF Jawans has changed the political scene with our determined security forces - Army, BSF, CRPF and J&K police - launching combat operations against Maulana Masood Azhar's dreaded terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM). Reports from Kashmir suggest that "since February 14, 2019, at least 14 among total 18 militants killed were from Jaish".
Reports say, "it was the 'fidayeen' outfit's local recruit - a sawmill apprentice and a school dropout Aadil Ahmad Dar - who rammed his explosive-laden vehicle into the paramilitary convoy at Lethpora in the afternoon of February 14, killing 40 CRPF men" and "on heels of that rattling attack, the hunt for JeM militants has only grown manifold in the Valley".
Only on Monday, the security forces claimed that they had liquidated the "main conspirator" of the Pulwama fidayeen attack. He was identified as an "electrician from Tral" and was eliminated by the security forces, along with his two associates in a gunfight that broke out on Sunday. "He was termed as the one who would recruit young boys into the JeM fold'.
"Forces have killed 18 militants in the past fortnight of which 14 belonged to Jaish, two to Lashkar-e-Taiba and two to Hizbul Mujahideen," IGP Kashmir SP Pani has been quoted as saying.
According to credible sources, "post-Pulwama, Kashmir Valley is witnessing one of the biggest coordinated counter-insurgency operations in recent years" and "its main targets are all the 70 to 80 JeM militants operating in the Valley".
However, Inspector-General, Operations, CRPF, Zulfikar Hussain, according to a report, has said that "he won't call it avenge; he would call it a continuous process".
It needs to be noted that , unlike local terrorists, who "die within an hour of a gunfight", "the JeM militants have proved to be 'much lethal', 'battle-hardened' and 'formidable opponents' for security forces in the Valley".
"They are ruthless for their sheer ability to mount fidayeen attack," one senior officer was quoted as saying. He also reportedly said: "Their modus operandi gives you a glimpse of their radicalized mindset. They don't believe in survival tactics unlike others and die while inflicting major damage on their adversaries".
According to General Officer Commanding (GoC) of the Indian Army's Srinagar-based 15 Corps, Lt Gen KJS Dhillon, "the biggest problem is the forces take casualties in the initial stage of the encounter when trying to evacuate the civilians from the congested localities" and "we suffer casualties because we expose ourselves." |
