4 grenade attacks solidify Army's fear of reprisal by militants
Amid a renewed debate over the proposed withdrawal of he Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) from cer ain parts of the State, Kashmir Valley was rattled on Tuesday by t least four grenade attacks on ecurity forces at different places within a span of four hours.
The attacks, coming just our days after Chief Minister Omar Abdullah announced his ntentions of removing the con roversial Act from at least four ities, including Srinagar, Budgam, Jammu and Samba, have only gone on to back the Army and Defence Ministry's pposition to the proposed move primarily on the ground that uch “enclaves“ where the Act is not applicable will embolden the ultras to take shelter there.
The Defence Ministry's eservations on the proposed plan, sources said, concurred with the Army's view even as he State Government has aken the plea that these zones re peaceful and relatively free of terrorist violence. The State Government also held parleys with Central Government representatives, including the Cabinet Secretary and Home Secretary, over the last two days on the issue.
The Army maintains that creation of such enclaves will prove to be counter-productive as militants will take shelter in these pockets while the Army will not be able to take action against them in the absence of legal cover as provided by AFSPA. This act
was promulgated in Jammu and Kashmir in 1990.
The Defence Ministry agreed with Army's concerns as it is the premier agency now carrying counter-terrorist and counter-insurgency operations in the State.
Maintaining that Omar may have “compelling reasons“, Law Minister Salman Khurshid too on Tuesday said the Home Minister and the Defence Minister should “concur“ on the issue and the Army should be taken on board before a final decision can be taken (on AFSPA withdrawal).
Elaborating upon the likely consequences of removing AFSPA from four zones, sources gave the example of Imphal.
While the entire State of Manipur is covered by the act giving special powers and legal cover to the Army, the AFSPA is not imposed in Imphal.
While the entire State of Manipur is covered by the act giving special powers and legal cover to the Army, the AFSPA is not imposed in Imphal.
Officials said this experiment was proving to be a problem for the security forces in the backdrop of ultras taking refuge in the State capital without fear of punitive action or arrest. As regards Kashmir, they aid sustained pro-active stance gainst Pakistan-backed terrorsts has yielded positive results in he last 2-3 years as levels of vioence have come down and infil ration from across the 750-km ong LOC is at an all-time low.
Given this scenario, any letup and removal of AFSPA rom certain towns of J&K will weaken the hands of the Army and other security forces ncluding the Border Security Force and CRPF, they said.
Incidentally, the Army does not have presence in all the major towns of Jammu & Kashmir and law and order duties and counter-insurgency operations are carried by the ocal police along with the CRPF. Counter-terrorist and ounter-insurgency operations re carried out by the security orces under the Unified Command headed by J&K CM.
The Army operates in the hinterland and rugged moun ainous terrain besides the manning the LOC. Anticip ting a spurt in violence and nfiltrations bids before snow blocks all ingress routes for the militants, the Army has stepped up aggressive patrolling along he anti-infiltration fence.
Sources said the main objective of aggressive patrolling and real time intel igence based intelligence trikes is to neutralise the infil rators within the two km of the LOC is militants manage to vade patrols.
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