The Indian Army has neutralised eight terrorists in the last 24 hours in the union territory of Jammu Kashmir. The terrorists were neutralised by the armed forces in two different operations.
Giving an update on the operations, General Officer Commanding (GOC) 15 Corps Lt Gen Baggavalli Somashekar Raju said the security forces were able to neutralise three terrorists in Awantipora area in Pulwama district and five others in Shopian district on June18-19.
Complementing different units of the Indian Army in conducting successful operations over the few months with the latest being the two operations in which eights terrorist were neutralised, Lt Gen Raju said the security forces have done a commendable job.
Terrorists hiding inside a mosque
He pointed out one of the two operations to praise security forces for the manner in which they conducted the operation and neutralised three terrorists. Talking about it, he said that in that specif operation, the terrorists were hiding near a mosque but the security forces exercised excessive restraint to ensure that no damage is caused to the structure.
Lt Gen Raju informed that of the 49 new recruits of the terrorist organisations in the valley, 27 terrorists have been neutralised by the armed forces.
'People of Kashmir have chosen peace'
He said that with every operation conducted by the security forces to bring down the militancy in the valley, there has been a rise in peace in the region. He complimented people of Kashmir for choosing peace and cooperating with the Indian Army.
Recounting the success of such operations over the past few months, Lt Gen Raju said that security forces have been able to neutralise over 102 terrorists at the beginning of the year. He also acknowledged that due to the very nature of the operations there have been few civilian casualties but emphasised that they have been low 1 or 2.
He said that these low numbers of civilian casualties were because the security forces exercised extraordinary restraint in using deadly force against terrorist as the Army wants to keep the damage to a minimum when conducting operations as it wants to retain the connect with Kashmiri people.
He urged them to discourage young men and boys from taking up arms to harm others and rather come forward to seek help and undergo rehabilitation. Armed forces will ensure that no harm is caused to them, he said.
