6 militants of AGH killed in Tral

Security forces taking positions during encounter with militants at Arampora, Tral on Saturday. —Excelsior/Younis Khaliq
Security forces taking positions during encounter with militants at Arampora, Tral on Saturday. —Excelsior/Younis Khaliq

5 CRPF men injured in grenade attack
Indo-Pak troops exchange fire in Keran

Fayaz Bukhari
Srinagar, Dec 22: Six militants of Zakir Moosa led group, Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind (AGH), were killed this morning in a gun battle that raged between security forces and militants in Arampora village of Tral in South Kashmir’s Pulwama district.
A joint anti militancy operation was launched in Arampora village of Tral by security forces in the wee hours today following the inputs about the presence of militants. The militants fired upon the search party and the security forces retaliated leading to an encounter in which six militants of Zakir Moosa led group, Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind, were killed.
The militants were identified as Soliha Mohammad Akhoon, son of Ghulam Mohammad Akhoon of Arampora Tral, Faisal of Amlar, Nadeem Ahmad Sofi, son of Muzzafar Ahmad Sofi of Batagund Tral, Rasiq Mir, son of Ghulam Qadir Mir of Mir Mohalla Dadsara Tral, Rouf and Umar, both residents of Dadsara Tral.

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Police said that all the six militants were wanted in the attacks on security establishments and civilians. “This group was part of Zakir Moosa faction and was active in district Pulwama,” police said.
“Soliha is believed the deputy of Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind which is headed by Zakir Moosa. He as per police records, had a long history of crimes since 2015 and was involved in several attacks on security establishments and many other civilians”, police said.
“Rasiq Mir had a long history of militancy and was active for last five years. Several cases were registered against him. Similarly, Nadeem and Umar were also involved in several militancy related incidents. Also Rouf and Faisal were involved in planning and executing many attacks in the area,” police said.
Police said that the bodies of all the six militants after completion of medico legal formalities were handed over to their legal heirs.
“Arms and ammunition including rifles were recovered from the site of encounter. All these materials have been taken in the case records for further investigation and probe their complicity in other cases,” police said.
Soon after the news about the militant killings spread, people mostly youth took to the streets and protested against the killings. Thousands of people participated in the funeral prayers of slain militants in Arampora area of Tral.
The mobile internet services in South Kashmir’s Pulwama district has been suspended following the encounter in Tral village. The mobile internet service in other districts of South Kashmir was reduced to 2G.
The train services from Baramulla to Banihal were also suspended for today for precautionary measures.
General Officer Commanding (GOC) Victor Force, Major General Jhonson P Mathew while speaking to reporters said the situation in South Kashmir is stable but fragile.
The GOC Victor Force said that the security forces were tracking the movement of these militants for long time. “Losing six militants is a setback as we were tracking their movement for quite a while. There were many anti-national activities in the region and they were spreading (militancy) and certainly with this operation, we have broken their back,” he said.
Major General Mathew said: “He was initially with HM and thereafter he formed this group which initially was thought to align with the Al-Qaeda. However, Indian agencies are yet to confirm his allegiance to any other group outside the country. (His) group called Gazwat-ul-Hind as well as ISJK both seemed to have alliance and work on the ideology of Islamic caliphate. He has been recruiting young boys in this area and carrying on with these activities of Gazwat-ul-Hind.”
He said that social media was one of the major tools being used by the militants to “propaganda their ideology and to reach the young minds and to corrupt the young minds of the Valley.”
Regarding the situation in South Kashmir, the GOC said, somebody else has described it as stable but fragile. “And I agree with this it is still fragile,” he said.
Major General Mathew said that there are many factors about the youths who are joining militancy. “One certainly is the radicalization and which we all talk about another is alienation and more important than that is proxy war that is being played out here by our neighbor Pakistan and that is a major factor for which youngsters going wayward and getting recruited into this unending spiral of violence” , he said.
“Our appeal to them always had been to shun violence whatever grievances they have. There is a Government and democratic process in place. They need to use the process and shun the gun culture,” he said.
“We have more than 150 militants, who are operating south region currently and mostly are local and even few number of Pakistani also who are operating in this area.”
The GOC said the Army continued operations but at the same time, “we are appealing to the youngsters to shun the gun culture, surrender and even during operations we give an opportunity to the militants so that they can live a happy life”.
And five Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were injured in a grenade blast during a search operation in Arwani area of South Kashmir’s Anantnag district this evening.
Security forces were withdrawing from Hassanpura area of Arwani following clashes during a search operation when the blast took place.
Police said that the militants lobbed a grenade at the security forces in which five security force personnel were injured.
Police said that the injured were evacuated to hospital for medical treatment. After administering them with first aid, all the five security forces personnel were discharged from the hospital and are stated to be stable.
Police has registered a case and the investigation in the matter is underway.
Meanwhile, Indian and Pakistani troops today exchanged fire along the Line of Control (LoC) in Keran sector of North Kashmir’s Kupwara district.
A senior security official said that ceasefire volition took place at 11am hours to 12.15 pm in Keran sector. He said the troops of 3-JAK Rifles posted at Chandani Post Karen and Pakistani troops posted at Tipper Post, Rawata exchanged small arms fire in which no loss of life or damage was reported.

 

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