The Army on Sunday said nothing has been established so far to corroborate reports about the terror group's operatives in the state.
UDHAMPUR: Ruling out the presence of Al Qaeda in Jammu and Kashmir, the army on Sunday said nothing has been established so far to corroborate reports about the terror group's operatives in the state.
"Much has been said by the print and electronic media about Al Qaeda's presence in Jammu and Kashmir but nothing has been established so far to corroborate these reports, Northern Command chief, Lt Gen H S Panag, told reporters after laying wreaths at Dhruv War Memorial on the occasion of the unit's 36th Raising Day.
Gen Panag, looking after the operational command in Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir regions, said, "I would say we also have no records in the past about Al Qaeda operatives having being found during counter-insurgency operations in the state".
"Only one odd case was reported about one Al Qaeda militant of Afghanistan long back," he said, adding after investigation it also turned to be untrue.
"I think security forces, the CID and IB are investigating into it. We shall wait for what they have to say," said Panag, who took over as the Northern Command's GOC-in-C in January.
He also ruled out Al Qaeda's relations with militant groups operating in Jammu and Kashmir -- Lashker-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM).
"We are only aware of Al Qaeda's strong relations with JeM and LeT in Pakistan," he maintained.
In Pakistan, Al Qaeda has strong relations with LeT and JeM, whose cadres they train and assist them in the operations against the government, Panag said, adding they work in coordination in Pakistan, which is a major threat to the establishment.
He said such a situation is unlikely in India as the government here is stable.
Ruling out demilitarisation in Jammu and Kashmir at this juncture, Panag said that it is not up to the army to take a decision on withdrawal or re-deployment of troops in the state.
Contradicting media reports, he said the army does not have any individual interests in staying in the state.
"Instead jawans would be happy to go back and stay with their families," he claimed.
"But when the situation improves, army's strength would automatically be decreased."
He said of the total 3.37 lakh troops in the state, only 25 percent are being used for counter insurgency operations in in-depth areas.
"To deal with counter insurgency and counter infiltration operations along the Line of Control, 45 to 50 per cent troops are being deployed," he said.
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