Kashmir weeps for its martyred soldier
Hundreds turned up to attend the funeral ceremony of Shabir Ahmad Malik, the Kashmiri soldier killed in the army's ongoing encounter with Lashkar-e-Taiyba militants, at Dab Wakoora village in north Kashmir's Ganderbal district.
The gunfight between militants and the army in north Kashmir's Shamsbhari mountain range in the frontier Kupwara district has claimed 25 lives till now.
The Army has so far eliminated 17 militants while it has lost eight troopers, including Major Mohit Sharma.
Shabir belonged to the Dab Wakoora village in north Kashmir's Ganderbal district. He had studied in the local Sainik School in Mansbal.
The army had been Shabir's passion, informed his tearful father Ghulam Hassan Malik, while bidding a final farewell to his son on Tuesday.
"All the martyrs are from the elite 1 Para (SF) Regiment," Brigadier Gurmeet Singh, Brigadier General Staff, 15 Corps told a news conference on Wednesday afternoon.
Pakistan-based terror outfit LeT on Wednesday claimed responsibility for the Kupwara encounter. The LeT also threatened to intensify attacks across the Kashmir valley.
"The LeT will continue to render sacrifices for the freedom of Kashmir," LeT spokesman Abdullah Gaznavi said.
The operation in Kupwara should serve as an eye-opener for New Delhi. India should understand that the freedom struggle in Kashmir is not over. It is active with full force," Gaznavi told an English daily in Srinagar.
The spokesman said its fighters were involved in the six-day long encounter in Kupwara forest.
"The army had launched a combing operation in Chowkibal forests of Kupwara district on March 20. However, the LeT had already received information about the army movement and laid an ambush in the forest," the spokesman claimed.
But Brigadier Gurmeet Singh told mediapersons, "The operation is still in progress and the remnants of the infiltrating group and their reception party would also be eliminated".
"Terrorists were intercepted based on absolutely accurate and reliable human intelligence from both sides of the Line of Control. We had reliable and accurate human intelligence about the infiltration attempt and its reception party. The terrorists are mostly foreigners and members of the LeT," he said.
"The area of encounter is covered with thick jungles across difficult mountainous terrain," Brigadier Singh added. He informed that approximately 400 militants were still active in the valley.
So far, huge quantities of arms and ammunition including 17 assault rifles, 4 under barrel grenade launchers (UBGL), 13 AK magazines, 207 AK ammunition, 19 UBGL grenades, 2 grenades, 2 Global Positioning Systems (GPS), 1 Thuraya radio set, 1 Kenwood radio set, 3 map sheets, 3 matrix sheets, 2 haversacks and Rs 9200 have been recovered," said an army spokesperson.
The map, guidance systems and equipment (with terrorists) is indicative that the state and security forces' assistance from across the border was there as such material is not usually there in the civil domain," said Brigadier General Gurmit Singh.
No fresh exchange of fire has occurred since Tuesday evening and the army was carrying out combing operations in Drangyari and Hafroda forest area, he added