Indian army chief General Nirmal Chandra Vij yesterday said operatives of the Al Qaeda terror network were active in the restive Himalayan region of Kashmir. Last year Defence Minister George Fernandes also said Al Qaeda was operating in Indian Kashmir. Vij said 70 to 80 per cent of militants in Kashmir were "coming from across the border and they are foreigners."
The army chief ruled out the possibility of Indian and Pakistani troops jointly patrolling their borders in Kashmir. "How will joint patrolling help because Pakistan is sending in the militants?" he asked. He said there were thousands of militants assembled on the Pakistani side waiting to infiltrate into Indian Kashmir. There were 85 rebel training camps in Pakistani territory, many of which were merged with training centres for the Pakistani army, he said.
| Somehow I don't see Paks added to the patrols as additional value... |
Meanwhile, Indian police reported nine more deaths in the latest bout of violence in Kashmir.
Indian troops banged shot dead five snuffies militants in the twin border districts of Kupwara and Baramulla overnight and yesterday in three separate encounters. Two of the rebels were killed along the Line of Control (LoC) — the de facto border that divides Kashmir between India and Pakistan — in the Kupwara district.
| "Welcome to Jammu and Kashmir, guys. Vijay, you may fire when ready." |
Police said two more gunnies rebels were killed elsewhere in the region, where suspected krazed killers rebels shot dead two Muslim civilians, one of them a student. |