Lashkar behind Kupwara attack: Army

Majid Jahangir

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, April 28

The security forces are zeroing in on a newly infiltrated Lashkar-e-Toiba group for the fidayeen attack on the Panzgam artillery garrison in the frontier Kupwara district that left a Captain and two soldiers dead.

While the Army on Friday intensified the combing operation to track down an injured militant involved in the attack, the investigation has revealed that three fidayeen who stormed the camp belonged to the Lashkar.

“Lashkar is behind the fidayeen attack,” a senior defence official said. However, no militant group has so far owned responsibility for the attack.

The officer said it was yet not clear whether the militants involved in the attack were fresh infiltrators or were active in or around the area for some time. “The infiltration possibility is being checked,” the officer said.

However, sources said the three-member fidayeen group might have crossed the Line of Control during night earlier this week along the Doomari ridge in the Keran sector. The Army investigators were analysing the GPS sets and maps that were recovered from the two slain militants.

The Army carried out a search operation around the Panzgam garrison and the thick forest area from where the militants are believed to have entered the highly fortified Army base after cutting the fence wire.

“Many Army units are combing various areas to nab the injured militant,” a source said. All health centres across the district are being kept under watch as the injured militant might be brought for treatment.

Meanwhile, the state government imposed restrictions in some parts of Kupwara on Friday to foil protests over the death of a civilian, Mohammad Yousuf Bhat, in the alleged Army firing on protesters seeking the bodies of the two slain militants on Thursday.

“The situation was normal across Kupwara and there were no report of any violent incident,” said Senior Superintendent of Police, Kupwara, Shamsher Hussain.