Three JeM militants killed in Tral; jawan injured

Srinagar: Three Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) militants were killed in a firefight with the security forces in Tral area of Jammu and Kashmir’s southern Pulwama district on Saturday.

In a separate incident, a CRPF jawan was injured when militants tossed a hand grenade at a security force patrol in Kulgam district, also in south Kashmir, during the day, officials said.

They said the Army’s 42 Rashtriya Rifles with the J&K Police’s counterinsurgency Special Operations Group (SOG) and the CRPF’s 180th battalion laid siege to Tral’s Satura area early Saturday following information about the presence of militants. “The terrorists were hiding in the hills of Tral, and during the search operation took position behind rocks, and one of them inside a natural cave,” said an Army official.

The Army pressed helicopters into service to maintain surveillance on the militants’ movement and drop para-commandos in the difficult terrain to take on the terrorists. 

A senior police officer said over the phone from Tral, “The operation was started at around 7.15am. The contact with the terrorists was established at 8am. The firing has stopped with the killing of three terrorists but the moping operation is still on”.

Meanwhile, Lt. Gen. S. Sandhu, the GOC of Srinagar-based 15 Army (Chinar) Corps, said on Saturday that the operations against the militants in his area of operation (Kashmir Valley) will continue. He said though the situation is under control, the Army along with other security forces will work harder to improve it further in coming weeks.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a passing out parade of the newly inducted soldiers, he said that the youth of the Kashmir Valley are ready to serve the nation as was evident from the response to a recently held recruitment rally. “Against just 200 posts, there were more than 5,000 youths who wanted to serve the nation,” he said. Intelligence reports available with Army suggest that there are 100 to 120 militants in the Valley.

When his attention was drawn towards a series of videos appearing on social media and showing soldiers abusing and mercilessly beating up Kashmiri youth, he said, “Our boys are very professional. However, if anybody is found to be working unprofessionally in the force, action will be taken against him.”

Asked about a recent incident of a soldier deserting his unit, he said, “We have still no information if the soldier Zahoor Ahmad Thokar who decamped with a weapon and magazines from Baramulla, has joined any militant group.”