NEW DELHI, Oct 6: India’s new army chief Gen Deepak Kapoor on Saturday ruled out troop reduction in Jammu and Kashmir anytime soon, saying there was a rise in militancy-related violence in the disputed region.
“The attempts by militants to infiltrate into the (Kashmir) Valley for increasing the level of violence are still continuing. The killing of nine militants on Wednesday and three in Tangdhar on Friday is a proof of it,” Zeenews quoted him as saying after a security briefing by in Budgam.
Gen Kapoor, who is on his first visit to the state after taking over as Chief of Army Staff on Monday, said it was not ‘prudent’ to reduce the number of troops in the state in view of the ‘lurking threat’ of militants to escalate violence.
“Whenever there is a semblance of peace in the state, the incidents of violence go up. This has been the trend over the past couple of years. It may not be right to bring down the number of troops in the state till the violence is fully taken care of and the Valley returns to happy ways like other parts of the country,” he said.
The army chief was, however, quick to add that the forces would follow whatever orders they get from the government.
“We have been given a task (to counter militancy in the state) and we will do it to the best of our capabilities. We will follow whatever directions we get from the government,” he said.
About Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s pledge to have ‘zero tolerance’ for human rights violations in Kashmir, Gen Kapoor said: “We will continue to work towards this goal. It has been a constant attempt of the army in Jammu and Kashmir that there are no human rights violations. If there are any violations, army has punished the guilty personnel.”
He added that the “prime minister’s word is a direction for us”.
Agencies add: Indian troops killed at least 10 suspected militants in occupied Kashmir on Saturday, an army spokesman said. Three Indian soldiers were also reported killed.
In the fighting there were three separate clashes as groups of militants tried to sneak into occupied Kashmir under the cover of darkness, claimed army spokesman Lt-Col A.K. Mathur.
In the first of the recent incidents, three militants and a soldier were killed in a clash late on Friday night in the Tangdhar region. Before dawn on Saturday troops intercepted a second and larger group trying to cross in the same region. He said the soldiers ordered them to surrender but the militants opened fire, with the ensuing daylong gunbattle killing six militants and two soldiers.
The spokesman said that another militant was killed later on Saturday in the Baramulla area.
