Peace shattered along the LoC

Indian army gunned down heavily armed terrorists hiding inside the Indian territory since June 29, two soldiers martyred

Chandra Maurya

July 9, 2021

Indian army gunned down heavily armed terrorists hiding inside the Indian territory since June 29, two soldiers martyred

Peace in areas located close to Line of Control shattered, five terrorists, eliminated in three back to back encounters in Kashmir

Four months ago the top military commanders of India and Pakistan had attempted to convert the line of control (LoC) into a line of contact by adhering to the ceasefire agreement of November 2003 but they failed to do so.

On Thursday, peace prevailing in the forward areas located close to the line of control was shattered after a gunfight between a group of hiding terrorists, who had infiltrated inside the Indian territory, and the jawans of the Indian army erupted. By the time the gunfight was over the LoC had once again become the line of conflict.

According to official sources, “Three terrorists have been gunned down by the Indian army along the line of control in frontier Rajouri district in the last 24 hours while two Indian soldiers made a supreme sacrifice during the fierce gunfight with the heavily armed group of terrorists”.[1]

Two AK-47 rifles and ammunition in heavy quantity have been recovered from the terrorists. In the operation, Nb Sub Sreejith M and Sep Maruprolu Jaswanth Reddy received fatal injuries. A detailed search of the area continues.

According to a Defence Spokesman in Jammu, “based on information regarding infiltration and movement of terrorists in the area of Dadal, Sunderbani sector, District Rajouri, Army had launched extensive search operations with effect from 29 Jun 2021. Subsequently, the information was corroborated on Jul 08, 2021, and a search and destroy patrol seeking proactive engagement with the terrorists, spotted the terrorists in Dadal forest area, and challenged them”. The terrorists opened fire and lobbed hand grenades leading to a fierce encounter in which two foreign terrorists from Pakistan were killed. Two AK-47 rifles and ammunition in heavy quantity have been recovered from the terrorists. In the operation, Nb Sub Sreejith M and Sep Maruprolu Jaswanth Reddy received fatal injuries. A detailed search of the area continues.

On the other hand, Kashmir valley is also witnessing regular encounters with the terrorists in North and South Kashmir districts.

In the last 24 hours, five terrorists were neutralized in three separate operations in Pulwama, Handwara and Kulgam.

According to a Srinagar based Defence spokesman, “At Zodar, Kulgam, joint team of Anantnag based Rashtriya Rifles, JKP and CRPF launched multiple mobile vehicle checkpoints on receiving inputs regarding the movement of terrorists in the area”.

The spokesman said, “At 3.00 a.m a white Maruti Car was asked to stop for checking. The terrorists on seeing the troops started firing & ran towards the adjoining forested area. The area was immediately cordoned off and a firefight ensued. In the joint operation two terrorists, Shahbaaz Ahmad Shah of JeM active since Jul 11, 2020, and Nasir Ayub Pandit of LeT active since Jun 05, 2021, were neutralized. One AK-47 & one pistol with a large quantity of ammunition was recovered”.

In a separate operation, based on specific intelligence of JKP, troops of Panzgom based Rashtriya Rifles, JKP & CRPF laid a cordon around a built-up area in Puchhal, Pulwama. At 12.30 a.m, terrorists lobbed grenades on the cordon party and tried to escape. However alert troops immediately retaliated and foiled the escape bid. Call for surrender was made but terrorists retaliated by firing & lobbing grenades at the security forces. In the ensuing gunfight, two terrorists of LeT were eliminated. They have been identified as Kifayat Sofi and Inayat Ahmad Dar of Pulwama district.

One AK-47 and one pistol and other warlike stores were recovered from the encounter site.

On July 7, a joint team of security forces gunned down one of the top commanders of the pro-Pakistan Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist outfit, Mehrazuddin Halwai alias Ubaid in the Handwara area of North Kashmir’s Kupwara district. Police said he was a contemporary of HM’s poster boy Burhan Wani.

According to police, the HM commander was a diploma holder in computer application and was chiefly responsible for misusing social media & new methods of communication for terrorism. He was also instrumental in motivating and recruitment of youth into terrorist ranks besides raising funds for the promotion of terrorist activities.

In a tweet, Kashmir Zone police said, “A contemporary of HM’s notorious terrorist Burhan Wani. While Burhan was engaged in a series of civilian/ security forces killings in South Kashmir, Mehrazuddin Halwai was involved in killing civilians/ SFs in North Kashmir”. As per police records, the said terrorist was a categorized A++ terrorist and was group commander of proscribed terror outfit HM. He was active since 2012 and was involved in several killings in north Kashmir. He had a long terror crime history including attacks on Police/ SFs and civilian atrocities.

Note:
1. Text in Blue points to additional data on the topic.
2. The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of PGurus.

References:

[1] Pakistani terrorist killed as Indian Army foils infiltration bid along LoC in Jammu and Kashmir’s Rajouri– Jul 08, 2021, ET