Army chief General MM Naravane visits forward areas along LoC in Jammu

Jammu, October 19

Army chief General MM Naravane visited forward areas along the LoC in Jammu region on Tuesday and was briefed on the ground situation in the region and ongoing counter-infiltration operations, officials said here.

Naravane arrived in Jammu on a two-day visit on Monday amid a spurt in targeted attacks on civilians by terrorists in the Valley and an ongoing counter-insurgency operation in the forest belt of the twin border districts of Poonch and Rajouri, where nine soldiers have laid down their lives over the past week.

“General MM Naravane #COAS (Chief of Army Staff) visited forward areas of #WhiteKnight Corps & undertook a first-hand assessment of the situation along the Line of Control. #COAS was briefed by commanders on the ground about the present situation & ongoing counter-infiltration operations,” the Additional Directorate General of Public Information (ADGPI) of the Indian Army tweeted.

Eleven people have lost their lives in targeted attacks by terrorists in different parts of the Kashmir Valley this month. The count includes five non-local labourers, two teachers belonging to minority communities and a renowned pharmacist.

Amid the spate of civilian killings, Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Sunday vowed to avenge every drop of blood shed by hunting down the terrorists and their sympathisers.

The officials said the Army chief visited the border districts of Rajouri and Poonch, where a massive operation to track down terrorists hiding in the forest areas of Mendhar, Surankote and Thanamandi has been going on since October 11.

While five Army personnel were killed in an attack by terrorists in the forest area of Surankote on October 11, another four soldiers laid down their lives in a gunfight with the ultras in Mendhar last Thursday.

The operation to neutralise the terrorists entered its ninth day on Tuesday. So far, eight people, including a mother-son duo, have been detained for questioning in connection with providing logistic support to the terrorists. —PTI

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