Army puts action plan in place to take down 200 militants in Valley

A full scale cordon-and-search operation, like the one conducted in Shopian recently, will be carried out only in places where the army’s operations are hampered.

There has been a spurt in terror activities in Jammu and Kashmir. Nearly 200 militants are roaming around in the Valley and South Kashmir has reported a large presence of militants. Operations are underway to neutralise the terrorists, the Army has said.

Major General B S Raju, General Officer Commanding (GoC) of Victor Force which is responsible for security in south Kashmir, also said that the Army and Jammu and Kashmir Police are trying to dissuade the local youth from joining militancy by engaging with their families. He said a full scale cordon-and-search operation, like the one conducted in Shopian recently, will be carried out only in places where the army's operations are hampered.

"I am aware of the presence of the militants in the area (south Kashmir) and I must tell you that because of the high vegetation that is there, they are having slight amount of freedom but we are doing operations in a way to restrict their movement and subsequently neutralize them," the GoC told reporters.

Several areas of south Kashmir, including Pulwama, Kulgam and Shopian, have been witnessing repeated militant attacks on security forces in the recent months.

There have also been a number of incidents of weapon-snatching and stone-pelting, including by college students.

We are also ensuring that new recruitment is prevented and preventive operations are taking place wherein we are engaging with the families of the people and the students who are likely to get onto this track, he also said.

OneIndia News