Terrorists killed at Uri weren't Fidayeen; had come to recruit youngsters: Indian Army

The Army on Thursday foiled an infiltration bid near the Line of Control (LoC) in Uri in Jammu and Kashmir's Baramulla district, killing three terrorists and recovering a cache of arms and ammunition. In a joint press conference, here this afternoon, General Officer Commanding 15 Corps, Lt General D P Pandey, and Inspector General Police, Kashmir Zone, Vijay Kumar asserted that from the looks of it, it seemed that the terrorists had come to stay in the valley to recruit youngsters into terror ranks and to give them arms training.

Indian Army eliminates three terrorists in Uri  

“We observed suspicious movement in the Hathlanga forest area near the LoC. On 18th September an attempt was made by heavily armed terrorists. We took necessary measures and today around 6:00 AM troops spotted 3 terrorists which were followed by two more. The infiltrators were challenged and three of them were neutralized," Lt General D P Pandey and Inspector General Police, Kashmir Zone", 15 Corps, GoC said, adding that a large cache of arms and ammunition, including 05 AK rifles. 24 UBGL, 7 Pakistani Hand Grenades, 35,000 Indian currency, and Pakistani currency, etc, were recovered.

As per Lt General D P Pandey, there has been increased activity at the launch pads on the other side of the LoC recently. He said, "Attempts were made by the enemy to send terrorists before snowfall. We have credible inputs about a lot of activities on launch pads and that’s what we saw today and on 18th September, the current month." He added, “Lot of activities can’t take place without the hand of local army (Pakistani) commanders.”

About the identity of the killed terrorists, he said “We have found documents which reveal one of them is a Pakistani, but we aren’t sure about the rest of two. We are investigating. The way we recovered arms and ammunition, it indicates slain terrorists were not Fidayeen rather it seems they had come to stay in the valley to recruit youngsters into terror ranks and to give them arms training”.

Inspector General Police, Kashmir Zone, Vijay Kumar said, Internet services in Uri were suspended only to break contact of terrorists with local handlers. He added, “seeing the results of the mission ‘to get back misguided youth’, launched by police and Army this year, has increased frustration among the Pakistani handlers. People in Kashmir want the peace which was communicated to Pakistan in a loud voice when Hurriyat hawk Geelani died and people-maintained peace." 

'“Pistol has been used in terror-related incidents carried against cops/civilians in the valley, this year.  From January 2021- to date,97 pistols have been recovered from terrorists and terror-related incidents,” informed IGP Kashmir Zone, Vijay Kumar.