Srinagar: Anti-militancy operations will be further intensified in Jammu and Kashmir with security forces being instructed to eliminate those who continue to indulge in violence in the state, officials said on Wednesday.
The directive was given on Wednesday after a review of the security situation in the state during a high-level meeting in the wake of recent episodes of violence in the Kashmir Valley where several security personnel were killed by militants.
The meeting, chaired by home minister Rajnath Singh and attended by defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman, national security advisor Ajit Doval and top officials of ministries of home and defence, gave instructions to security forces to take action against the militants, a home ministry official told PTI on condition of anonymity.
The operations against the militants will continue even though the central government has appointed a special representative — Dineshwar Sharma — to initiate talks with all stakeholders in an effort to bring a lasting peace in Jammu and Kashmir, the official said.
Security forces have stepped up offensive against militants operating in the Valley.
Jammu and Kashmir director general of police of SP Vaid recently said around 170 militants were gunned down by the security forces in Jammu and Kashmir this year.
Two soldiers were killed and a CRPF jawan suffered injuries in an encounter in Pulwama district of the state on November 2.
Three militants were gunned down in Pulwama in an encounter in which an army jawan was also killed on November 6. Three militants, including Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Maulana Masood Azhar’s nephew, were gunned down by security forces Pulwama district on November 7.
On November 9, militants shot at and injured a policeman in Anantnag district of Jammu and Kashmir. Militants also attacked two police vehicles in separate incidents at Qazigund and Anantnag on November 10.
An army jawan and a militant were killed in an encounter in Kulgam district on Tuesday.
Separatists Mirwaiz, Yasin Malik detained ahead of sit-in
Separatist leaders Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Yasin Malik were detained by police on Wednesday after they took out a protest march and tried to stage a sit-in at the city centre in Srinagar against alleged harassment of people in the Kashmir Valley and “ill-treatment” of youth languishing in jails.
Mirwaiz, who is the chairman of the moderate faction of the Hurriyat Conference, and JKLF chief Malik were taken into custody at Abi Guzar after they, along with their supporters, took out a protest march from outside the JKLF head office.
Earlier, the two addressed a joint press conference, where they called for a “complete strike across the valley on November 27”.
PTI
Eliminate those who indulge in violence in Kashmir: Govt to security forces
