MESSAGE BOARD NEWSLINKS US EDITION COLUMNISTS DIARY SPECIALS INTERVIEWS CAPITAL BUZZ REDIFF POLL DEAR REDIFF ELECTIONS ARCHIVES SEARCH REDIFF
Pro-Pakistani militant outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed has been forcibly recruiting local Kashmiri youth in its cadre to give credibility to the dwindling outfit on the international fora, a youth rescued recently by Indian Army troops in Poonch said.
"JeM wanted to recruit a large number of local Kashmiri youth to provide credibility to the outfit at the international fora, where an impression of dwindling local support base is now gaining momentum," the youth told reporters at Nagrota.
Over the last one month, the outfit has been forcibly lifting local youth and taking them to Pakistan for arms training, he said.
"They wanted to push them into gun battles with the troops as shields for foreign mercenaries," he added.
Meanwhile, two militants were killed and four jawans injured in separate militancy-related incidents on Wednesday evening, an official spokesman said on Thursday.
The Special Operations Group of the local police, assisted by army troops, shot dead two militants during search operations at the Idgah area of downtown Srinagar, he said, adding that they were identified as Sikander of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and Mohammad Yousuf Lone of Kashmir's Pulwama district.
The spokesman said the duo was asked to stop and surrender by the security forces, but they opened fire and were killed in retaliatory action.
Two Kalashnikov assault rifles, 20 grenades and ammunition were recovered from them, he said.
Four jawans were injured when militants detonated an improvised explosive device at Aloosa in north Kashmir's Baramulla district on Wednesday evening, the spokesman said.
He said the troops were on their way to a nearby village to conduct search operations when the militants detonated the IED.
PTI
Tell us what you think of this report
