Pakistani Terrorists Gunned Down in Kashmir; Ammunition Seized As Infiltration Rises
Dated 4/6/2007
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A Pakistani national was among the two Al Badr militants killed by security forces in a fierce gun-battle at Wuyan in south Kashmir today, police said.
Personnel of 55 Rashtriya Rifles (RR) and the Jammu and Kashmir police launched a search operation following specific information that some militants were hiding at Wuyan village in Pampore area of Pulwama district this morning.
As the troops were conducting searches, militants hiding in the house of Mohammad Yousuf Bhat fired upon them with automatic weapons. The fire was effectively returned. In the ensuing gunfight, two militants of the Al Badr outfit were killed, police said.
The slain militants were identified as Dawood alias Tahir Shah from North West Frontier Province (NWFP) in Pakistan and Abdul Rashid alias Gani driver of Khrew Pampore, police added. Two Ak-47 rifles, five magazines, 84 rounds of ammunition and two mobile phones were seized from the site of encounter site.
Rising Infiltration
Amidst a call by the PDP, the Congress' alliance partner, for reducing troops in Jammu and Kashmir, the security forces have expressed concern at an increase in infiltration by militants.
A report of the Unified Command, which has been shared with the Centre, highlighted the fact that infiltration has increased with militants entering the state by cutting the barbed wire fencing at several places, official sources said.
The Centre, while announcing the formation of a committee headed by Defence Secretary Shekhar Dutt to study the PDP's demand, had made it clear that it would go by professional advice from the army on the issue of relocating and reconfiguring troops in Kashmir.
The Unified Command, chaired by Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, met in Srinagar earlier this week and analysed the growing trend of infiltration from across the Line of Control and recent assassination bids on politicians including the chief minister himself.
The meeting also discussed the Non-Initiation of Combat Operations, started by the Centre in 2000 against militant groups, and participants were of the view that terrorists had used this to re-group and strengthen. This move by the Centre was replied to by militants with an attack on the state assembly and later by an attack on Parliament, they said.
While remaining non-committal over relocating and reconfiguring troops, the report called for utmost vigil in Kashmir amid apprehensions that militants were planning to strike in a big way, the sources said.