“Our mujahideen will carry out a series of fidayeen attacks in the near future. Our target will be the army and other security forces,” Sajjad Afghani, operational chief commander of JeM, told a local news agency in a tele-statement.
The worst fears of security agencies may come true with the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) threatening on Friday to carry out a series of fidayeen (suicide) attacks in Kashmir.
“Our mujahideen will carry out a series of fidayeen attacks in the near future. Our target will be the army and other security forces,” Sajjad Afghani, operational chief commander of JeM, told a local news agency in a tele-statement.
The threat comes after a joint team of police and army killed two Jaish militants in a nine-hour-long gun battle at Maloora, the gateway to Srinagar.
“The slain [militants] were part of a group of six on a mission to attack security camps at Badami Bagh and Haft Chinar. However, they could not reach the targets due to curfew,” Afghani said.
The Jaish commander said the group included Yusuf Badni, Qari Mumtaz, Asadullah Afghani, Saiful Islam Baber and Osama. Mumtaz and Afghani were killed. Intelligence agencies have been receiving inputs about rise in militancy-related incidents since stone-pelting and street protests reduced following the arrest of top leaders of the hardline Hurriyat.
Director general of police Kuldeep Khoda said the way militants were intercepted at Maloora proved that security forces were alert.
“The fight against militancy has not ended. There are 250 militants still active in Kashmir Valley alone. Over 40% of these are foreigners,” he said.
While around 40 ultras were killed in September, more than 20 have been killed this month so far. There also have been 20 to 25 infiltration attempts in this period.
“Attempts at infiltration [from across the line of control) continue. Police have to fight on two fronts. On one side, they have to fight militancy and on the other, maintain law and order. There is a need for a different approach on both fronts,” chief minister Omar Abdullah said.
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