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Cop killed, civilian injured in Pattan
10 Pak soldiers, 4 Indian jawans, 9 militants killed

Excelsior Correspondent

SRINAGAR, Nov 9: Ten Pakistan army soldiers, four Indian jawans and nine militants were killed in the Kashmir valley overnight, according to official reports.

Atleast 10 Pakistani soldiers were killed when Indian troops repulsed an attack by Pakistani army in Uri sector of Kashmir tonight, an army spokesman said.

Pakistani troops attacked the Indian post ‘Faulad’ between 1830 and 1945 hours and the post continued to be under intense shelling till late tonight, the spokesman said.

The Indian troops repulsed the attack and 10 bodies of Pakistani soldiers with weapons had been recovered, he said, adding no casualties on the Indian side were reported.

Another encounter took place between security forces and militants at the Line of Control (LoC) in Amrohi Bahak area of Karnah close to the LoC. The encounter continued for half an hour in which four Indian army jawans were killed.

Militants managed to escape after the encounter. Searches were being conducted by the army in the area.

Pakistani troops also resorted to indiscriminate shelling at Chautali, Bijbehama in Uri area.

Even as militants this evening launched an attack on Police at Pattan and left a constable killed, police and security forces eliminated at least nine top militants of Lashkar-e-Toiba and Hizb-ul-Mujahideen outfits in two different operations in Bara-mulla and Kupwara districts of north Kashmir. In another militancy-related incident this evening, unidentified gunmen attacked a family at Parimpora, in the capital city and left a civilian killed and two females critically wounded.

Official sources told EXCELSIOR that District Police Baramulla, alongwith SOG Baramulla, planned an operation immediately after receiving information that six senior commanders of Laskhar-e-Toiba and Hizb-ul-Mujahideen were in a meeting at the house of one Habibullah Sheikh at Sangrama, near Sopore, this afternoon. Men from Police Station Sopore and SOG Baramulla, with the back-up support of BSF 21 Bn and CRPF 10 Bn, laid siege to the locality on Srinagar-Baramulla highway. A convoy of 21-Special Force (21 Paras), which was on way to Srinagar from Kupwara, also stopped and joined the operation with the advantage of six rocket launchers. Later troops of Rashtriya Rifles (RR) 29 Bn also joined the operation and made it a total success.

Militants opened the first fire at 1245 hours and the 6-hour-long encounter left at least 5 militants killed . Militants put up a tough fight and made desperate attempts to escape but failed. As they shifted to the adjacent house of Fateh Mohammad Dar, Police and troops destroyed the same with rockets and grenades. The search operation was in progress till late tonight, as troops expected one militant either hidden somewhere or charred under rubble. Five dead bodies, 2 AK-56 rifles and, more significantly, 3 high-power Kenwood wireless sets were recovered from the spot. Recovery of the three radio sets indicated the presence of three Pakistani commanders of Lashkar-e-Toiba. Some sources even identified two of the slain militants as Abu Khalid and Abu Bilal of Lashkar.

IGP Kashmir Zone Gopal Sharma insisted that the dreaded Hizbul Mujahideen "District Commander" Fayaz Ahmed Dar alias Dawood of Wagub was among the five militants killed. Some senior officials even believed another top-wanted Hizb commander Ghulam Hassan Bhat alias Khalid of Allapora killed at Sangrama. However, there was no independent evidence to conclusively suggest that either of the two was killed in the encounter. Dawood is the militant, who, according to official sources, ambushed then DIG Baramulla Dr Sheshpal Ved on Srinagar-Baramulla highway earlier this year. Being held responsible for scores of subversive acts and killings, he had reportedly gone across the LoC in the first batch of Kashmiri militants in 1987. He has never been apprehended during the last 12 years of insurgency. Operating in Sangrama-Pattan belt, Khalid too has escaped in eight cordon-and-search operations so far.

Officials confirmed that two BSF jawans sustained injuries in the encounter. They were withdrawn and rushed to Military Hospital in the capital city where both of them were described as stable. However, unofficial reports from Sopore added that three civilians also got injured in Sangrama operation. They were identified as Mohammad Sultan Malik, Abdur Rehman Dar and Mohammad Ramzan Aashpuri.

While the encounter was going on at Sangrama, militants appeared at the security forces-dominated Pattan township on Srinagar-Baramulla highway at 1745 hours this evening and directed volumes of automatic gunfire on a police patrol. As police failed to strike back effectively, constable Azad Ahmed, a resident of Hajipora Shopian, got killed and a civilian, namely Ghulam Mohammad Bhat of Pattan, got injured. He was rushed to the local hospital for treatment as all the militants managed to escape.

Reports available from North Kashmir said troops of 5/11 Gorkha Rifles and RR Sikh Battalion launched a cordon and search operation at Panzwa forest area of Kupwara district today. During searches, exchange of fire took place and the encounter lasted five hours.

Four militants of Hizbul Mujahideen got killed. Four bodies as also three AK-56 rifles, one Universal Machine Gun (U MG), two pistols and one wireless set were recovered this evening. Unconfirmed reports from Handwara and Vilgam said that one of the slain militant had been identified as Javed Shah of Vilgam.

Unidentified gunmen this evening intruded into the house of one Farooq Ahmed Nar at Parimpora in the capital city outskirts and fired indiscriminately upon the family members. Nar as also Mehjabeen wire of Mohd Ramzan Kuchchay and her daughter Kousar Jan got critically injured. They were rushed to SMHS hospital where Farooq succumbed to his injuries. Mehjabeen and Kousar Jan were referred to SKIMS.

US wants dialogue to continue
India not to negotiate with Pak sponsors of terrorism

From B L Kak

NEW DELHI, Nov 9: The Government of India has, once again, made it plain that it cannot negotiate with Pakistan’s military rulers so long as Islamabad was fully involved in a state-run terror campaign across the border.

This signal, clear and categorical, has been necessitated by the fresh message from the United States of America (USA) which wants India to keep the door "open" for talks with the new regime in Islamabad.

The message from Washington has said that the Clinton administration would not for the present wave the Pressler Amendment, as proposed, which would lead to the resumption of arms supply to Pakistan. Significantly, however, US officials were willing to give Gen. Parvez Musharraf the benefit of the doubt.

Even as Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee’s Principal Secretary, Mr Brajesh Mishra, was assured that the US would use its influence on Pakistan to address Indian concerns over cross-border terrorism, US Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia, Mr Karl Inderfurth, has left none in doubt by his assertion that the US "cannot walk away because Pakistan is important—because stability or the lack thereof in Pakistan will have an impact on Pakistan’s neighbours".

Gen. Musharraf, during the Indo-Pak war in Kargil, was portrayed as an officer who was influenced by the concepts of militant Islam and it was even alleged that he had close links with the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. On the other hand, Mr Bruce Reidel, Senior Director for South Asia in the National Security Council, let it be known that Washington viewed Gen. Musharraf as a man with "moderate" political views.

At a time when the US administration has found it politically expedient to list all shortcomings of the deposed Nawaz Sharief Government, the US State Department has begun parroting the line that Gen. Musharraf must restore civilian democracy at the earliest. Gen. Musharraf, interestingly, has come out with his ‘no’ comment. There is talk that about two years will be needed for the situation in Pakistan to stabilise and for elections to be held in that country.

The US-watchers argue that for all its expressions of ‘sympathy’ and invocation of national security interests, the Clinton administration will have a difficult time explaining to Congress just whey certain relaxations would have to be made. For instance, it is fairly common knowledge that Pakistan’s economy is in deep trouble. The conviction in the US is that Pakistan has for quite some time been tottering on the brink. A formal meltdown of the Pakistani economy will have an impact in the immediate neighbourhood and on Washington’s policies in the region.

According to latest reports from Washington, the Clinton administration has begun quiet negotiations with India’s Foreign Office on the question of creating conditions for easing things in Pakistan. And it will expect India to respond meaningfully to the olive branch extended by Gen. Musharraf. Significantly, however, New Delhi has so far been found unwilling to negotiate so long as Islamabad remained involved in aiding and abetting cross-terrorism, particularly in Jammu and Kashmir.

A report prepared by a renowned commentator of Pakistan, Mr Aziz Siddique, has stated that there is little evidence so far that Gen. Musharraf’s tenure in power will be very different from those of his predecessors. The objectives the Pak military ruler has spelt out for himself make a full enough agenda. The approach is soft for the present. Stating that fundamental rights are promised to be generally respected, the report has warned: "But on past evidence it is hard to be optimistic even about small mercies. As the regime exhausts its ingenuity and innovativeness and public euphoria begins to dissipate, it may find even a relatively free press, independent judiciary and active elements of civil society a bit of a spoilsport".

The National Security Council headed by Gen. Musharraf himself and including two other service chiefs seems particularly likely to become an organic feature as the supreme governing body. The Pak armed forces had long favoured a constitutional role for themselves in governing the country. Now that they have the opportunity to give it to themselves it is unlikely that they will not make sure it stays for all foreseeable future.