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Some terrorists retired Pakistani soldiers: Army commander Lt Gen Dwivedi
Says 20-25 terrorists could still be operating in the Rajouri-Poonch area and situation will be brought under control within a year with the help of local residents
The chief of the strategic Northern Command, Lt Gen Upendra Dwivedi, on Friday hinted at the presence of retired soldiers of special forces of the Pakistani army working as terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir in the wake of relentless anti-terror operations by Indian security forces that has dried up local recruitment of youngsters into terror outfits.
Also read: Hilly terrain, accessible infiltration routes make Rajouri terror hotspot
Responding to media queries at the technical airport in Jammu’s Satwari cantonment after paying tribute to the five Indian soldiers, including two captains, Lt Gen Dwivedi said, “When we tried to identify some of them (slain terrorists), we found some of them to be retired soldiers (of Pakistan army). Since our operations (anti-terror) are continuing here, Pakistan’s attempt is to bring foreign terrorists here (and fuel terrorism) because no local recruitment is happening here.”
“And, therefore our attempt is to eliminate foreign terrorists here,” he said.
Lt Gen Dwivedi was asked whether there was a possibility that soldiers of Pakistan’s special forces worked as terrorists.
Setback for Pakistan
He said that the killing of LeT commander Qauri and his acomplice at Kalakote was a major setback to Pakistan. “It’s a major setback to Pakistan because the two dreaded terrorists were trying to bring together an ecosystem that existed in Rajouri and Poonch districts. The moment we finished them, the entire gameplan of Pakistan suffered a big setback,” he said.
According to the General’s estimate, 20 to 25 terrorists still operate in Rajouri and Poonch districts.
“However, the way security forces and intel agencies have intensified their operations with the help of locals and if the operations continue the way they are on, we will be able to control the situation well within an year,” he said.
He also anticipated a spike in terror activities because of the elections next year.
Lt Gen Dwivedi heaped praise on the five bravehearts of the Kalakote encounter and called the killing of Qauri and his accomplice as a “big success for the nation”.
“These two dreaded terrorists had committed heinous killings for the past one year. We were not able to catch them because they were getting weapons, ammunition and inputs from their contacts (ecosystem),” he said.
He said that the two slain terrorists were responsible for terror attacks at Dhangri (killing of seven civilians on January 1), Kandi (killing of five soldiers on May 5) and Rajouri TCP (killings of two civilians on December 18, 2022).
“They had killed unarmed and hapless civilians and hence killing them was mandatory,” he said.
Paratrooper got commendation recently
He said that the duo might have been trained in many countries including Pakistan and Afghanistan.
“They were well-trained foreign terrorists and hence took some time for us to eliminate them but our brave soldiers while caring least for their lives did this commendable task,” he said.
Recalling paratrooper Sanjay Bisht, Lt Gen Dwivedi said he had pinned a commendation medal on Bisht on November 18 at Budhal in Rajouri. “I had given him a commendation medal and asked him what would he do next and he had promised that in the next seven days he will do something. With bravery he laid down his life at Rajouri. I would also like to acknowledge the way Captain Pranjal’s father gave a statement at Bangalore on Thursday. His statement would inspire our bravehearts and motivate them to work harder,” he said.
