Army sets Sept deadline to end south Kashmir terror

Arun Joshi

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Tribune News Service

Jammu, July 19

The Indian Army has set a deadline of September-end to eliminate most of the terrorists, if not all, in south Kashmir with the full backing of political groups of all hues in the Valley, highly-placed sources have told The Tribune.

They said the Army has “complete political support of the government and the Opposition in Kashmir”.

“All of them are nationalists notwithstanding their articulation of different nature, which may sound offensive to the sensitivity of the times, situation and the place,” a top-ranking officer observed.

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Having realised the current volatile situation in south Kashmir, that has become synonymous with the Kashmir problem at the international level, the Army has embarked on a “surrender or face bullet” aggressive strategy.

South Kashmir has posed a serious challenge to the security apparatus and has also changed the narrative after the July 8, 2016 killing of militant commander Burhan Wani.

The Army has taken on terrorists in a big way with the help of the local police. The impression of “terrorists being more powerful” is being dispelled by the frequent anti-terror operations. There are approximately 100 terrorists in south Kashmir and many have been eliminated, including top-ranking ones like Sabzar Bhat, Bashir Lashkari and Junaid Matoo.

“This is what we are supposed to do and that’s what we are doing. Our primary objective is to remove the atmosphere of fear,” the commander said.