“A landmine with marks of a Pakistan ordinance factory and a US-made rifle were among the cache of arms recovered from a yatra route.”
The Pakistan army and terrorists, desperate to disrupt peace in Jammu and Kashmir, were attempting to attack the Amarnath Yatra, according to General Officer Commanding (GOC)15 Corps Lt. Gen. Kanwal Jeet Singh Dhillon
“A search operation is still on the twin routes of the Amarnath Yatra in south and central Kashmir. A landmine with marks of a Pakistan ordinance factory and a U.S.-made rifle were among the cache of arms recovered from one of the yatra route,” he said.
“The highway and the foot tracks of the Amarnath Yatra are being searched thoroughly. The location will not be divulged as sanitisation operation is on,” he said.
IEDs were emerging as a “pronounced” threat this year and one such attack was carried out on the Army in Shopian on Thursday, but no damage was reported. Around 10 IED attacks were carried out after the Pulwama attack in February last. However, one major IED expert, Munna Lahori, and many other such Pakistani experts had been neutralised this year.
The situation on the Line of Control (LoC) was “normal”. “However, launch pads in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) were full and bids made to push infiltrators in the Kashmir and Jammu sectors, including Pathankot and Jammu. These attempts have been thwarted. Even yesterday, an infiltration attempt was foiled in Kupwara. Three infiltrators were killed in Gurez on July 30,” he said.
The Army officer warned Pakistan against resorting to ceasefire violations. “The Army gave a befitting reply to such violations and silenced them in the Kupwara sector recently after unprovoked artillery shelling. We will retaliate very hard in such a situation,” he added.
The Army had asked women in the Valley not to allow their wards to indulge in pelting of stones. “Eighty-three percent of terrorists killed this year had history of pelting of stones. Around 17 per cent terrorists were killed within 10 days. We are after the leadership of the Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM), Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Hizb-ul-Mujahideen,” he said.
Troops numbers exaggerated: DGP
Meanwhile, commenting on fresh troop induction in the State, Director General of Police (DGP) Dilbagh Singh said the numbers were exaggerated.
“There are fresh inputs that militants will upgrade violence. So the counter- insurgency grid and law and order components are being strengthened. The troop induction is also done to give rest to those who have been serving in the past nine months without rest. They have been busy conducting urban local bodies, panchayat and parliamentary elections. They require rest now,” he said.
The leadership of the JeM and LeT had been eliminated. “The number of active militants has come down. Just eight militants are active in the Jammu region,” he added
