Bloody Sunday in Kashmir – 13 militants gunned down

S U M M A R Y

13 militants gunned down, 3 soldiers attained martyrdom, 4 civilian killed during  protest demonstrations Sacrifice of young Kashmiri army officer Lt Umar Fayyaz avenged Despite family members trying to convince a militant to surrender, he persevered, shot at the Police and was killed

Indian security forces dealt a body blow to Pro-Pakistan militant outfits

Indian security forces Sunday dealt a body blow to pro-Pakistan militant outfits in Kashmir Valley by successfully eliminating heavily armed 13 militants including two top commanders responsible for the killing of young army officer Lt. Umar Fayyaz in May last year.

While the encounter was going on between the holed up terrorists and the security forces  Superintendent of Police, Anantnag called family members of a local terrorist to convince him to surrender during the Dialgam encounter.

With this, the majority of young militant leadership operating in South Kashmir has been wiped out by the security forces in one go.

Videos of these militants, training in thick forest areas, were doing the rounds in the social media for a long time.

After carefully scrutinizing the locations and mounting electronic surveillance on these local militants the security forces were able to track them down before neutralizing them.

In the day-long operations which continued at three separate locations  three soldiers of the Indian army also attained martyrdom while four civilians injured during protest demonstrations near encounter sites succumbed to their fatal injuries.

Out of the 13 militants killed in three separate encounters a  group of seven local militants were together when the security forces laid a tight cordon after receiving a tip-off about their presence in the area.

Director General of J&K Police Dr. S P Vaid in a hurriedly called press conference said, “this is one of the biggest counter-offensives in recent times against terror groups operating in the Kashmir Valley”.

The operations by security forces have broken the back bone of terror groups such as the Hizbul Mujahideen and the Lashker-e-Taiba.

On the other hand, Corps Commander of XV Corps, Lt Gen A K Bhatt, termed it one of the biggest operations in recent times and said the death of Lt Umar Fayaz, who was brutally killed in Shopian last year, had been avenged.

“Among the militants killed are Ishfaq Malik and Rayees Thokar. They were responsible for his death,” Bhatt said.

Fayaz, 22, was killed by terrorists in May last year. His body was found with bullet wounds in the Hermain area of Shopian district in South Kashmir.

Credible leads helped security forces neutralize local militants

After eliminating more than one dozen foreign militant commanders last year the joint teams of security forces were hunting for local militant leadership to break the backbone of militancy in South Kashmir districts.

Successful cordon and search operations (CASO) launched by the Indian army in remote areas which were once declared liberated zone in the aftermath of killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani in July 2016 helped security forces gather vital intelligence inputs about the whereabouts of these militants in the area.

Pursuing credible leads of the presence of terrorists, Shopian Police and security forces started a search operation in Draghad and Kachdoora areas of Shopian district early Sunday morning.

While the searches were going on, the hiding terrorists fired upon the search parties, ensuing encounters at both the sites.

At Draghad, seven terrorists were neutralized.

They have been identified as Adil Ahmed Thoker of Humhuna, Nazim Dar of Nagbal, Ubaid Shafi Malla of Trenz, Yawar Itoo of Safanagri, Rayees Ahmed Thoker of Padarpora, Zubair Turay of Shopian and Ashfaq  Malik of Pinjura, police spokesman said.

Apparently, this group had joined HM in the summer of 2017 and were involved in series of cases of attacks on civilians and security forces; killing of Lt. Umar Fayaz is one among them.

At Draghad, while the search party entered the target house, they found the body of one Mushtaq Ahmad Thoker along with the dead terrorists. There was no collateral damage of property at this encounter site.

At Kachdoora Shopian a total number of five militants were killed whose identities and affiliations are being ascertained.

At Kachdoora three army men laid down their lives in the line of duty and a civilian namely Zubair Ahmad Bhat resident of Gopalpora received firearm injury in the crossfire and subsequently succumbed. Another civilian whose identity could not be ascertained succumbed to his injuries in the evening.

Fall out of the killing of local terrorists?

In response to the killing of local militant commanders, a large number of villagers from their native villages came out on the streets and started large-scale stone pelting to target jawans on duty.

The security forces deployed in large numbers in sensitive areas faced a lot of difficulties in containing the violent crowd.

In sporadic incidents of stone pelting over 100 civilians were injured in clashes that erupted near the gunfight sites while a militant surrendered before the forces.

In view of the volatile security situation, the state government agencies announced a total crackdown by suspending internet mobile services and all educational institutions including Kashmir University, Central University, and other institutions postponed their exams and other academic engagements. A separate bandh call was also given by the separatists in protest against the killing of local militants by the security forces.

Passionate appeals of parents go in vain?

While the encounter was going on between the holed up terrorists and the security forces  Superintendent of Police, Anantnag called family members of a local terrorist to convince him to surrender during the Dialgam encounter.

Addressing a press conference the Director General of Police (DGP) Dr. S P Vaid said, “I would like to make a special mention about the Dialgam encounter where our Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) made a special effort, which is unheard of in any part of the world.”

“He called the family members of one of the terrorists. They spoke with him for 30 minutes, to convince him to surrender,” the officer said.

“Unfortunately, he did not heed the advice of his family. During the talks, the district SSP tried to get him over. Instead, he fired on the police leaving them with no option other than to retaliate. He was killed. The other one was caught alive,” he said.

Bloody Sunday in Kashmir: Omar

While J&K Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti stayed away from commenting on the developments during the day but the leader of the opposition in the state Assembly Omar Abdullah took to Twitter to express his serious concerns over the alarming situation in the valley.

On Sunday Omar tweeted, “Very Bloody Sunday in Kashmir today. 13 militants killed but not without extracting a high cost – 3 army men killed in the line of duty & 4 protestors killed around the encounter sites”.

In another tweet, he said, “of the 12 confirmed dead I understand 11 are local Kashmiris & the identity of the 12th is being ascertained, not one so far is a foreign terrorist. Is no one in a position of power in Delhi alarmed by this because I certainly am!