WESTERN DISTURBANCE Jaitley says India dominates line, Pak summons Indian envoy
NEW DELHI: Army chief General Bipin Rawat and his top commanders landed in Srinagar on Thursday for a security review, even as cross-border shelling and gunfire escalated and Pakistan summoned India’s deputy high commissioner in Islamabad over casualties.
HT FILEA soldier takes position near the Line of Control in Nowshera sector, about 145 km from Jammu.It is rare for the army’s seniormost generals to congregate in Jammu and Kashmir to review the security situation and operational preparedness of soldiers posted in the state and along the Line of Control (LoC), the de-facto border between Indian and Pakistan. The air force was also represented at the review.
In New Delhi, defence minister Arun Jaitley said Indian soldiers are in a commanding position along the LoC.
“In the past few weeks, our armed forces, the Indian Army and BSF, are dominating the Line of Control,” he said.
At least five Pakistani soldiers were killed and six more were wounded in retaliatory firing by the Indian military in the Bhimber and Battal sector of Jammu and Kashmir.
The army was responding to unprovoked ceasefire violations by Pakistani forces, which fired machine guns and 82mm and 120mm mortar shells at Indian outposts and villages across the border. A General Engineering Reserve Force labourer was killed, while two more men, including a BSF trooper, were wounded on Thursday in Pakistani firing in Rajouri and Poonch districts.
But Pakistan accused India of targeting civilians in border towns, killing a villager.
The Pakistani foreign office summoned the deputy high commissioner JP Singh and condemned the ceasefire violation.
The border burned on a day Rawat was in Srinagar for a twoday security review after the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Sabzar Bhat on May 27. The army gunned down a number of militants in the past weeks, but has been unable to tamp down on local anger. Thousands showed up at the funeral of Bhat on Sunday.
Jaitley dismissed reports of mounting unrest and public anger in the Valley, saying the situation was mostly normal. “The situation in Kashmir is better than the impression.”
Indian security forces have piled pressure on militants and the results are visible, he said.
Army Chief in Valley for security review
Tribune News Service
Srinagar, June 1
Amid the heightened tension along the Line of Control, Army Chief General Bipin Rawat along with the top Army brass arrived in Srinagar on Thursday and reviewed security.While there was no official word from the Army on the Chief’s visit, sources said a high-level meeting chaired by General Rawat discussed the issues of logistics, security in the hinterland and along the Line of Control.The sources said the top brass meeting in Srinagar would give a boost to the morale of the soldiers on the ground, who had faced a lot of flak after the “human shield” case.
2 Hizb ultras behind Sopore attack on cops killed
Security forces zeroed in on militants after grenade thrower identified from CCTV footage
The arms and ammunition recovered from the Sopore encounter site on Thursday. PTI
Majid Jahangir
Tribune News Service
Srinagar, June 1
Two local militants of the Hizbul Mujahideen were killed in an encounter with security forces in north Kashmir’s Sopore sub-district on Thursday morning.The two slain militants, the police said, were instrumental in the grenade attack on a police party yesterday in Sopore town that left four policemen injured.The militants were killed in a joint operation which was launched in the wee hours by the J&K Police, Army’s 22 Rashtriya Rifles and the CRPF’s 92, 177 and 179 battalions at Sopore, some 55 km from here.As the forces were zeroing in on a suspected house after a specific input, the militants hiding there opened fire, resulting in injuries to two Army men, who were evacuated to a hospital.“The militants were asked to surrender, but they opened fire. In the encounter that followed, two militants were killed,” said Inspector General of Police, Kashmir, Muneer Ahmad Khan said.Two AK-47 rifles and other ammunition were recovered from the site.The two slain militants were identified as Basharat Ahmed Sheikh of Bomai, Sopore, and Aijaz Ahmad Mir of Brath Kalan.The police said the two militants had planned the grenade attack.“The two militants had assigned two persons to hurl the grenade. We were able to identify one grenade thrower who was caught on a CCTV camera. The grenade thrower was arrested during a raid and we got a clue from him about the militants,” a police officer in north Kashmir said.The local sources said the militants had appeared at the funeral of a slain militant and given a gun salute. They said that Aijaz had been studying law through the distance mode before he went underground last year.
Lady doctor treats2 injured jawans
- A young Army lady doctor was part of the anti-militancy operation in Sopore and provided medical support to the two injured jawans. The Army said Capt Eram Riyaz tirelessly administrated medical support at the encounter site, helping the two injured jawans with grenade splinters. “She then evacuated the injured jawans to the nearest medical facility at Pattan for further treatment,” an Army officer said.
