Jammu, June 25
At least 10 hardcore militants, including area commander of the Hizbul Mujahideen, were killed in operations launched by the security forces in different parts of the Jammu region during the past 20 hours.
According to the official reports, two hardcore militants belonging to the Hizbul Mujahideen were killed in an encounter with the security forces in the Gandhov area of Doda district today. Shabir, an area commander of the Hizbul, who had spread terror in the area during the past nine years and was involved in several massacres, was also eliminated. Large quantities of arms and ammunition were recovered from these two slain militants.
In another incident four militants, belonging to Lashkar-e-Toiba were killed in a joint operation launched by the police and the Army in the Mandi area of Poonch. Three others were gunned down near Surankot and one was killed by the BSF in the Ramban area.
During the past two months more than 125 militants have been eliminated only in Poonch district and out of them 85 were killed by the police.
Senior government functionaries have admitted that soon after the posting of Mr Kamal Saini as Superintendent police in Poonch the police had been instrumental in smashing scores of militant hide-outs.
Mr Saini has succeeded in developing a good network of field sources and it was on specific information received by the police that joint operations were carried out by the Army and the police in Poonch district.
Mr Kamal Saini said people had started cooperating with the police and that was the major reason for the series of successes by the security forces in eliminating over 125 hardcore militants in Poonch district only.
He said there were still number of belts, especially in the higher reaches, where the militants had established their hide-outs. He said “what we have achieved in two months had not been achieved in the past one-and-a-half-years.” He said since the rate of elimination of militants was on a higher side the eight-year-old scare among the people had started diminishing which encouraged them to cooperate with the police. He stated that cordon and search operations would continue.
SRINAGAR:
Five persons, including a jawan of the Border Roads Organisation (BRO), were injured in three explosions in the Kashmir valley since Sunday, an official spokesman said on Monday.
Militants lobbed a grenade at a BRO vehicle near regal Chowk in the heart of Srinagar this afternoon, causing splinter injuries to the jawan and a 14-year-old boy and creating panic in the busy business area a PTI report said.
A scrap dealer and his assistant were injured when an explosive device went off inside their shop at Hamray in Baramula district last evening.
In an attempt to extract iron from the device, the dealer hit it with hammer causing the explosion.
Meanwhile, a civilian was injured when he accidentally stepped over a land-mine in the Uri sector of Baramula district last evening.
