Clinching Pak link in J&K terror hits

Army shows recoveries from Nowgam attack.

Weapons and other “war-like stores” found on four militants killed while sneaking into Kashmir earlier this week have Pakistan markings, the Army said on Saturday.

This is one of the four recoveries made around India’s surgical strikes on terror launchpads across the Line of Control (LoC) 10 days ago that exposes Pakistan’s complicity in cross-border terrorism.

The Army released on Saturday photographs showing recoveries from the four militants gunned down in Kupwara’s Nowgam sector on Thursday. They had crossed the LoC from Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (PoK).

“Pakistan Ordinance Factory (POF) markings on grenades bear testimony to Islamabad’s involvement in abetting and equipping terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir and beyond,” said defence spokesperson Colonel Rajesh Kalia.

“Hand-grenades recovered are ARGES 84 which are manufactured by POF. Pakistan origin markings are also seen on medicines and eatables recovered,” the officer said.

He added that a large quantity of highly inflammable materials, including six each plastic explosive slabs, bottles of petroleum jelly, those of inflammable liquid and lighters were also recovered.

He said the recovered items also include 4 AK-47 rifles with sixteen magazines and 349 rounds of ammunition, one each GPS-enabled radio set, binocular, mobile phone and first aid kit.

On Thursday itself, a large cache of arms, food and medicines — with markings indicating they were from Pakistan — were also recovered from three militants killed in an encounter with security forces in northern Kashmir’s Handwara.

The army had found three AK-47 rifles, grenade launchers, a large quantity of ammunition, GPS-enabled radio sets, maps and metric sheets — indications that the militants were prepared for another assault.

Similar materials were recovered following an encounter in Poonch on September 11 and the terror attack at the 12 Infantry Brigade headquarters in Uri on September 18 in which 19 soldiers were killed and an equal number of others wounded.

“This shows the sinister design of Pakistan to aid terrorists in causing maximum destruction,” the officer said.

Tension between the nuclear-armed neighbours soared after the Uri attack with the two armies exchanging heavy fire and mortars across the LoC in Kashmir almost every day.