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Kashmiri militants are on the run, says army

At least 401 militants, mostly foreigners, belonging to various outfits were killed and 40 others apprehended while troops recovered a large cache of sophisticated arms and ammunition in the past three months in Jammu and Kashmir, a defence spokesman said in Jammu today.

He said in the post-Operation Vijay period, the army had achieved substantial successes in its operations against militants in the state.

To avenge the reverses suffered by Pakistan in its misadventure in Kargil, the country had stepped up efforts to enhance the level of militancy not only in the Valley but also in other parts of the state, the spokesman said.

He said about 700 to 800 trained armed militants crossed over into India during or immediately after the clashes in Kargil. Some of them had been trained as suicide squads.

The Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence had plans to extend the arc of the proxy war to areas hitherto untouched such as Kargil, the hinterland of Rajouri and Poonch districts and also Chamba district in Himachal Pradesh.

Recent incidents in the Mushkoh valley, Kandi, Budhal, Mhor and Kilar in HP substantiate this, he said.

The spokesman said the other objectives of the Pak-sponsored militants during the period were to disrupt the process of elections in the state and seek to internationalise the Kashmir issue.

The spokesman said the army had been able to keep the militancy well under control by continuously carrying out anti-militancy operations thereby keeping them on the run, he said.

The spokesman said during the period between July 13 and 19 army troops killed 15 militants and recovered a large quantity of arms and ammunition in Mandi.

He said between July 31 and August 20, 39 militants were killed in Panzgam and Chokibal areas in Kupwara district of the Kashmir division. In the same district on September 29 and 30, 15 militants were killed.

He said during the third week of this month, an operation was launched in some areas of Poonch, Rajouri and the upper reaches of Pirpanjal ranges which resulted in killing of 25 militants including the core group of five militant commanders.

The spokesman said during the same period army troops recovered a large cache of arms and ammunition, including 364 assault rifles, 53 rocket launchers, nine machine guns, 74 pistols and 839 kg of assorted explosives. The troops also destroyed 57 militant hideouts.

UNI

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