Ten mercenaries killed in major
J&K encounter

SRINAGAR Aug 17 (PTI) — In a major operation, Army troops shot dead 10 foreign mercenaries in a pre-dawn raid on a militant hideout at Kalaroos in Kupwara district in north Kashmir today, a Defence Ministry spokesman said.

Elsewhere in Jammu and Kashmir, militants gunned down four persons, including two government employees, and wounded another while security forces defused two explosive devices and repulsed a militant attack on a police post set up to safeguard a vital road link since last evening, an official spokesman said here.

The Defence spokesman said Army troops raided a militant hideout at Kalaroos at around 3 a.m. after sealing all escape routes following information about presence of foreign mercenaries there.

As the troops stormed the militant hideout, hiding militants resorted to heavy firing and hurled grenades on the approaching troops. The troops immediately took positions and retaliated resulting in the death of all 10 foreign mercenaries present there, the spokesman said.

Five AK assault rifles were recovered from the militants, he said adding the operation was still in progress and further details were awaited.

According to the official spokesman, three residential houses, three kuthars and two shops were gutted in the encounter.

The spokesman said militants shot dead two persons identified as Khadim Hussain, an agriculture assistant and Mohammad Din Sarwar, a government teacher in their village at Dandkote-Darhal in border district of Rajouri in Jammu region last night.

However, a Jammu report said the two killed were activists of the ruling National Conference and close relatives of former Jammu and Kashmir Speaker Mirza Abdul Rashid, who joined the National Conference in 1996.

He said militants kidnapped two persons, Krishen Lal and Noor Mohammad from the Dhar Baghar area of Gandoh in Doda district last evening.

The duo were taken to an unknown destination where they were tortured severely by the abductors resulting in the death of Krishen Lal and serious injuries to Noor Mohammad, the spokesman said.

He said Noor Mohammad was shifted to hospital for treatment.

An improvised explosive device (IEC) planted by the militants in the rear side of a degree college in Rajouri in Jammu region was detected by a police patrol last evening. The same was defused without causing any damage, the spokesman said.

He said security forces also detected an IED planted by militants in an iron pipe at Zakoorah on the outskirts of Srinagar last evening. The IED was immediately removed and later defused by experts.

Militants attacked police guards posted at Wathora bridge in Badgam district of central Kashmir last night with sophisticated weapons. However, the cops repulsed the militant attack and none was hurt, he said.

As the troops moved in for house-to-house searches, the hiding militants opened heavy fire on the approaching army personnel. The troops returned the fire and the encounter was still going on, he said.

He said bodies of 10 militants identified as foreign mercenaries were recovered from the site of the encounter.

Sixteen militants, mostly foreigners, have been killed by the army since last Sunday in nearby Jagerpora village of Handwara.

A militant along with four hand grenades was apprehended by the Army in Parthinallah in Baramula district.

The Army also recovered a rifle, a pistol, a wireless set, five hand grenades and some ammunition and Pakistani and Afghan currency in operations in Baramula, Kupwara and Anantnag districts last night, the spokesman added.

JAMMU: Militants shot dead two activists of the National Conference (NC) in their village in Rajouri district last night, the police said here on Monday.

Militants broke into the house of Mirza Sarwar Hussain in Shahjanpur village in the Darhal area of the district and shot him dead and his brother Mirza Khadim Hussain.

The two brothers were close relatives of former Jammu and Kashmir Speaker, Mirza Abdul Rashid, who joined the NC in 1996, the police said.

Later, the militants escaped. The security forces have been rushed to the area to nab the fleeing militants, the police said.

Shadow of death looms large over Doda. One of the most picturesque hilly districts of Jammu and Kashmir, as ISI backed foreign mercenaries have turned it into a launching pad for extending Pakistan’s proxy war to Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Ladakh region.

Having revived militancy in south Kashmir and in northern areas of Jammu region, Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) has now entrenched foreign mercenaries in the vast higher riches of the hilly district, according to official sources.

The entire operational command has been handed over to foreign mercenaries belonging to Afghanistan, Pakistan, Sudan and Turkey sidelining Kashmiri militants, the sources say.

The changed scenario in Doda is attributed by the sources to the shifting of two battalions of security forces in the beginning of the current year from militancy affected areas of Balesa, Thathri, Dachan, Chatroo, Kontwara, Marmat, Desa and Bunjwa.

This has encouraged infiltration of militants in the district in large number from adjoining areas of Peerpanjal mountain ranges dividing Jammu and Kashmir valley and enabled them to create sufficient stockpile of weapons to effectively take on security forces.

Militants killed about 100 persons between January and July this year, carrying out 31 attacks, kidnapped 16 persons triggered 16 explosions, 76 firings and encounters and three lootings.

A measure of the strategic importance of Doda in the militants’ design can be had from the following developments:

1. Shifting of a power communication set from Kashmir valley to Doda that would enable senior militant commanders to converse without the risk of being monitored.

2. Procurement of anti-aircraft guns and missiles by militants after ferrying them from across the border.

3. Identification of about 50 areas where militants have concentrated and substantially increased their presence.

A seven-point plan drawn up by the ISI incorporates killing members of minority community aimed at communalising the situation and forcing their migration, targeting paramilitary forces, wiping off all village defence committees (VDCs), causing blasts in vehicles, busy market and public places, targeting air force helicopters and blowing up water reservoirs, government buildings, bridges and places of worship, the sources said.

The sources said substantial concentration of militants and mercenaries in the specially featured district of Doda has been reported from Bagwa, Batoli, Bunjwa, Chirala, Chnya, Chira, Gandoh, Guha, Kunda, Kuntwara, Kota, Keshwan, Kilhotra-Gwari, Magon, Maichar, Neel, Rakali, Shanoo, Seal-Dagia, Seeru, Thathri.

These areas mostly covered by forests were considered best suited for building hideouts and carrying out forays in adjoining villages of Doda and surrounding areas of Kashmir valley, Districts of Udhampur and Kathua in Jammu region and parts of Ladakh and certain areas of Himachal Pradesh, the sources said.

Some Sikh militants reportedly trying to revive militancy in Punjab have taken shelter in Tarai area of Uttar Pradesh, the sources said, adding possibility of nexus between them and ISI-sponsored militants in J and K cannot be ruled out, the sources said.

To pre-empt the designs of the ISI, some concerted and drastic measures were needed, a senior police officer said.

Apart from tightening the security along Line of Control (LoC) to check infiltration, deployment of more security forces and creation of additional police pickets and VDCs were needed in Doda district, he said.

The police and VDCs have also to be provided with sophisticated weaponry, communication and transport, he said.