Pulwama attack: Anyone who picks up gun in Kashmir will be eliminated, says Army

Anyone who picks up a gun in Jammu and Kashmir will be eliminated, Indian Army said on Tuesday, appealing women to persuade their sons who have picked up guns to get back to the mainstream.

Addressing a press conference, Corps Commander Lt Gen KJS Dhillon said, "Mothers have an important part to play in Kashmiri society."

The remarks came after three Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terrorists were killed in an operation in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district on Monday (February 18).

Lt Gen Dhillion said: "I would like to inform the nation that in less than 100 hours of the Pulwama terror attack, we have eliminated the JeM leadership in the Kashmir Valley, which was being handled by the JeM leadership in Pakistan."

Lt Dhillion also stated that families in the Valley should convince their children not to pick up weapons. "Anyone who picks up guns in Kashmir will be eliminated unless they surrender. This is a message to all the mothers of Kashmir," he said.

He also made it clear that the Pulwama attack was carried out by the JeM, which is based in Pakistan, with the active support of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and the Pakistan Army.

J&K ENCOUNTER

The encounter in Pulwama took place in the wake of last week's suicide attack on a CRPF convoy, masterminded by the Pakistan-based JeM, in which 40 CRPF jawans were martyred.

Four Army soldiers were martyred in a 12-hour encounter in Pulwama - Major VS Dhondial, Havaldar Sheo Ram and Sepoys Hari Singh and Ajay Kumar. A police head constable, Abdul Rashid Kalas, was also killed.

A civilian was also killed in the encounter, said the police.

The three Jaish terrorists who were killed included Kamran, believed to be a conspirator in the February 14 Pulwama terror attack. Kamran was a Pakistani and a top commander of the Jaish and a key aide of Jaish-e-Mohammed's Pakistan-based chief Masood Azhar.

The second terrorist killed today was Hilal Ahmed, a local Kashmiri bomb specialist.