M A I N   N E W S

LeT attacks Army camp
Two militants, jawan killed
Tribune News Service

Srinagar, January 8
Two Pakistani militants of the Lashkar-e-Toiba’s suicide squad were killed when they made an attempt to enter an Army camp in the Trehgam area of Kupwara district in north Kashmir this morning. An Army jawan was also killed and two of his colleagues were injured in the exchange of fire.

“The two slain mercenaries were part of a group which was wearing combat dresses and travelling in a civil vehicle. As the vehicle neared the security forces camp, it was stopped by the troops. One of the terrorists got out and opened indiscriminate fire, while other two attempted to sneak inside the camp. The alert troops foiled their attempt and both the mercenaries were shot dead on the spot”, a defence spokesman stated here this evening.

A jawan was killed and two others were injured in the exchange of fire between the militants and the security forces, the police here said.

The two militants killed have been identified as Abu Aiyal of Jhelum and Mushtaq Ahmadahas Saifuddin Sardar of Sialkot in Pakistan. Two AK rifles have been seized from the slain militants.

A police spokesman said here that a group of three militants travelling in a Matador which they had stolen from Poshpora and abandoned at bus stand, Trehgam, fired indiscriminately at the main gate of the camp to gain entry into it. The alert jawans, in retaliatory action, killed two of them on the spot while the third succeeded in escaping towards the nearby woods.

Elsewhere, unidentified militants shot dead a surrendered militant, Nazir ahmad Wagay at Warapora, Sopre in Baramula district last night.

A civilian, Niaz Ahmad Sheikh, sustained bullet injuries under suspicious circumstances while working in his paddy field in the Pampore area of Pulwama district, near here.

JAMMU: Two BSF personnel were wounded when Pakistani troops resorted to mortar shelling on the Mala Bela post in the Akhnoor sector on Tuesday.

Official reports said that the troops fired from mortar shells and one constable and sub-inspector were injured.

Jaish-e-Muhammad threatens to target IAF, Navy

Srinagar, January 8
The Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) militant outfit today threatened to intensify its activities targeting the Air Force and Navy, besides Army and paramilitary forces.

“Our target now will be the IAF and, Indian Navy, besides Army and paramilitary forces,” JeM chief in Jammu and Kashmir Abu Hijrat told a local news agency, ‘NAFA’ in a telephonic interview.

“The crackdown by the Pakistani Government on the JeM and Lashker-e-Toiba (LeT) will not make any difference as far as “jehadi” organisations are concerned,” he said.

“We are silently watching the developments and cannot comment on the happenings at the moment,” Hijrat said.

Denying JeM’s involvement in the December 13 strike on parliament and October 1 attack on the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly, Hijrat disowned Gazi Baba, a Pakistani national who has been named by the Delhi police as the mastermind behind the attack on Parliament. “Baba is not a member of the JeM.” When asked about the outfit’s claim after the attack on the state Assembly and hasty withdrawal later, he said “The question of owning the responsibility for the acts we have not carried out does not arise.”

Replying to a question, Hijrat said “the Pakistan Government has changed its policy towards “jehadi” groups, but the change will not make any difference on the activities of Jehadis.

“We have not jumped into “jehad” for the sake of fame or fun, but we have launched it to implement the law of God in his land,” he said. Hijrat claimed that the JeM has 3,000 to 5,000 suicide squads in addition to more than 12,000 militants.

Asked to comment on the statements of some separatist leaders questioning the presence of foreign militants in Kashmir, Hijrat said “They (the separatist leaders who said so) do not know the philosophy of jehad. Jehad is compulsory for every Muslim. There is no ban or restriction on jehad as to who will fight where. There is no restriction of territory. PTI