Fayaz Bukhari
SRINAGAR, Apr 7: General Officer Commanding (GOC) 15 Corps, Lt General Subrata Saha today said that the snow from the lower heights along the Line of Control (LoC) in Kashmir is melting and Army is ready to thwart any attempts of infiltration.
General Saha said that the activities in the launch pads across the LoC have increased and lower passes have started opening up but Army is ready to deal with the situation. “We will ensure that no infiltration is allowed into Kashmir valley”, he added.
“The upper heights along the LoC are still covered by snow but it has started melting in lower reaches. We have to be more vigilant along the LoC to thwart any attempts of infiltration. According to inputs, there has been a typical increase seen at this time of the year in the number of people at launch pads,” said the GOC.
Asked about revocation of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) from parts of Kashmir, the Army officer said the matter is being discussed by the State Government and the Centre. “Let them decide on it… We will do our job… We will give our response to them and not to the media”, he said.
To a question on resurgence of militancy, the GOC said the spurt in militant attacks cannot be termed as resurgence or revival of militancy in the Valley. He said that there are 200 militants operating in Kashmir and these incidents happen every now and then. “It would be resurgence of militancy had it come to zero. Every now and then some incidents do happen here and there,” he added.
Lt General Saha said that security forces take lessons from every such incident which happens in Kashmir. “There are lessons which we learn from such incidents… The various agencies will investigate it so that the people behind these attacks are brought to book,” he said.
The Army officer said the policemen were unarmed and attending to a normal civil case when the militants attacked them. He suggested that the cops should carry the weapons while dealing with normal cases.
The GOC said that the militants have taken advantage of these cops being unarmed and attacked them.”We offer our deep condolences to the families of these brave cops. They were not on counter-militancy duty. They have taken the advantage and matter is being investigated”, he added.
The Army officer said that the Mohra attack in Uri, Noth Kashmir which took place during Assembly elections last year was not aimed at Army as they were carrying weapons which could have caused more injuries than deaths.
“On Mohra, I can say that they came and targeted the camp but by the weaponry they were carrying it looks that they were aiming at a different target. Two short guns were recovered from them and they are used for causing injuries only. And it happened in the middle of elections. It was a chance incident that they targeted an army camp”, said the GOC.
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