J A M M U   &   K A S H M I R

Eight militants shot dead
JAMMU, Nov 7 — Eight militants were killed in different encounters in the Jammu region during the past 24 hours. Official sources today said three columns of the Rashtriya Rifles and a column of the STF were sent into the jungles 2 km south of Bhaderwah, on Sunday night on the information that some militants were hiding there.

APHC leaders to meet Pak officials today
NEW DELHI, Nov 7 — Senior leaders of the All-Party Hurriyat Conference (APHC) are scheduled to meet officials of the Pakistan High Commission tomorrow. While the Hurriyat leaders are also here to get their respective passports to attend the marriage of the son of the Peoples Conference leader, Mr A.G. Lone, with the daughter of the Pakistan-based leader of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), Mr Amanullah Khan, the meeting between the APHC executive and the Pakistan High Commission officials assumes significance in the light of intensive debate on the future strategy of the organisation.

Eight militants shot dead

JAMMU, Nov 7 (UNI) — Eight militants were killed in different encounters in the Jammu region during the past 24 hours.

Official sources today said three columns of the Rashtriya Rifles and a column of the STF were sent into the jungles 2 km south of Bhaderwah, on Sunday night on the information that some militants were hiding there.

A search operation was launched yesterday. While the troops were combing the area, the militants opened fire. In the retaliatory fire four militants were killed.

The slain militants were identified as Liaquat, Abdul Latief, Sohal and Faried Ahmed, all belonging to the Hizbul Mujahideen.

In another operation, conducted by 87 battalion of the BSF, two militants were killed in Basantgarh area of Udhampur district last night.

In the third operation launched by the Romeo Force and police, two militants of the Harkat-ul-Jehadi-Islami were killed in Darah in Rajouri district.

JAMMU (TNS): The police on Tuesday claimed to have smashed a group trying to forge a nexus between Punjabi and Kashmiri militants with the arrest of six persons in the recent weeks.

This was stated by Inspector-General of Police R.V. Raju at a press conference here today. He said among the arrested were a couple of Sikh militants. He said on the basis of intelligent inputs from the state police a number of militants had been eliminated and arrested in Delhi and Punjab from whom large quantities of explosives had been recovered.

He said during the past 10 months, more than 700 militants, including foreign mercenaries, had been killed in Jammu region.

To a question, Mr Raju said the Special Operations Group of the police, the Army and members of village defence committees deserved credit for stepping up anti-insurgency operations. He said since ISI agents were trying to concentrate on the international border between Akhnoor and Kathua for infiltration and smuggling, joint operations launched by the security agencies, including the BSF and the CRPF, had resulted in the death of 70 hardcore militants at the international border (IB) in the recent months.

Mr Raja claimed that the troops and the police had drawn up a comprehensive plan for checking infiltration from across the border and for foiling the ISI gameplan of developing a nexus between Kashmiri and Punjabi militants so that militancy could be revived in Punjab.

He said due to better coordination among various security and intelligence agencies in Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab and Delhi, Pakistan-trained militants had failed to launch an offensive.

On this occasion, the Inspector-General of Police, DIG, Jammu Range, Dr S.P. Vaid, exhibited large quantities of explosive and sophisticated weapons seized from the militants during the operations.

APHC leaders to meet Pak officials today
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, Nov 7 — Senior leaders of the All-Party Hurriyat Conference (APHC) are scheduled to meet officials of the Pakistan High Commission tomorrow.

While the Hurriyat leaders are also here to get their respective passports to attend the marriage of the son of the Peoples Conference leader, Mr A.G. Lone, with the daughter of the Pakistan-based leader of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), Mr Amanullah Khan, the meeting between the APHC executive and the Pakistan High Commission officials assumes significance in the light of intensive debate on the future strategy of the organisation.

The APHC had an extensive debate last month when senior leaders like the former Hurriyat chairman, Mirvaiz Umar Farooq said the Hurriyat was no more being considered a political movement in the western capitals and even the Organisation of Islamic Countries (OIC) were only paying lip service to the Kashmir cause.

Alarmed at the developments within the Hurriyat, the Pakistan High Commission had asked the Hurriyat leaders to come down to Delhi for a detailed meeting to assess the situation, the sources said.

Prof Lone’s son, Sajjad, is to wed JKLF chairman’s daughter Asma in Pakistan on November 20. While Prof Lone’s entire family has left for Pakistan, he himself is a waiting clearance of passport by the External Affairs Ministry.

The Hurriyat leader told agencies that he had approached the NHRC yesterday but had not got any response from the commission or from the Ministry of External Affairs. He hoped that the NHRC would do something within a couple of days.

He said he had put in an application at the RPO, Srinagar “a long time back”, intimating them about his son’s wedding. He received a reply on September 19, saying that the application had been forwarded to the Ministry of External Affairs. A formal letter had also been sent to the ministry by the Hurriyat leadership. However, nothing had been done so far.

Alongwith Prof Lone, five other senior leaders of the Hurriyat have applied for passports to attend the wedding. They include Mirwaiz Omar Farooq, Yaseen Malik, Syed Ali Shah Gilani, Prof Abdul Ghani Bhat and Sheikh Abdul Aziz.

Meanwhile, Home Ministry officials are tightlipped about the entire issue. A senior Home Ministry official said Prof Lone had not so far formally applied for permission.