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| 6 more militants killed on day 5 of Army operation | | Kupwara encounter toll rises to 25 | |
Ahmed Ali Fayyaz
SRINAGAR, Mar 24: With Army claiming to have eliminated six more militants in the gunbattles today, as many as 25 militants and security forces personnel are reported dead in five days of the continued military operation in the sprawling Shamsbari mountain range in Kupwara district, in north Kashmir.
Defence spokesman, Lt Col J S Brar, told Early Times that six more militants were eliminated today even as the major counter-insurgency operation in Shamsbari area, close to LoC in Kupwara district, entered its 6th at midnight. He claimed that security forces did not suffer any fatal casualty today but insisted that the operation was still underway as three to four stray militants of the group were believed to be hiding at different places. According to him, as many as 17 heavily armed militants and eight Army personnel---including a Major---had got died in the five days of continued gunbattle. He claimed that only one soldier had sustained injuries and he too was stable at a military hospital.
The spokesman said that dead bodies of all the 17 militants killed in the operation so far had been recovered by Army and the process of their identification was in progress with scrutiny of their weapons, documents, outfits and other belongings. He said that most of the militants killed appeared to be “foreigners” even as a few of them, who had probably proceeded towards LoC for receiving the infiltrating group, could be the Kashmiri cadres of the militant organization.
Col Brar claimed that a large quantity of arms and ammunition, including 17 AK series rifles, 4 under barrel grenade launchers (UBGLs),13 AK magazines, 207 rounds of AK ammunition, 19 UBGL grenades, 2 hand grenades, 2 Global Positioning System (GPS) sets, one Thuraya radio set, one Kenwood radio set, 3 map sheets and 3 matrix sheets had been recovered so far in the search operation. More recoveries were likely on Wednesday.
The spokesman said that dead bodies of all the eight soldiers had reached their respective places of residence for funeral. A large number of the residents of Dab Wakora village, in Ganderbal district, today participated in the Namaaz-e-Janazah and funeral rites of the Kashmiri parashooter, Shabir Ahmed Malik, who was among the eight soldiers killed in the operation. In an unusual demonstration, hundreds of Malik’s fellow villagers, relatives, neighbours and even the family members hailed him as a “hero” who had given supreme sacrifice for the nation. Earlier, senior officials of the counter-insurgent Kilo Force and Kupwara-based 28 Division participated in a wreath-laying ceremony held in Malik’s honour at Shadipora in Sumbal area.
The defence spokesman refuted reports appearing in some sections of the media that helicopter gunships were used , reiterating that the rugged terrain in the area precluded use of any heavy weapons. He further stated that in this operation, minimum collateral damage to property was caused. On being asked whether the group was an infiltrating column, the spokesperson stated that the group, most likely, consisted of an infiltrating column as well as the terrorists who had come to receive them. He further stated that the operation was based on sound intelligence inputs as well as human intelligence provided by own sources.
Meanwhile, highly placed Defence sources also contradicted television news channel reports which claimed that over 200 hardcore Taliban terrorists had staged Kargil-II in Kupwara district. They admitted that it was a pre-season infiltration but claimed that troops were already in possession of field intelligence inputs suggesting possibility of such kind of intrusion in the middle of March. They said it was due to availability of specific information from very trusted sources as well as radio intercepts that Army had succeeded in neutralizing the infiltrating group. Officials believe that it was a Lashkar-e-Toiba group of mostly the Pakistani militants but maintained that such details would be clear only in the next 24 hours.
Sources said that the Union Ministry of Defence reviewed the Kupwara situation at a high level meeting in New Delhi and directed senior officials of the Army Command in Udhampur as well as those at Srinagar-based 15 Corps to deal with the infiltration firmly but take maximum possible care to ensure that no damage was caused to the civilian life or property. While most of the clashes have so far occurred in dense forest areas, some residential houses have suffered damage in Shaldori Hafruda belt in Handwa-Chowkibal area. |
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