In valley, Army chief stresses on upholding human rights

SRINAGAR: Army chief General Dalbir Singh Suhag arrived here on Tuesday to review the security situation, a defence spokesman said. He visited the LOC formations and units in North Kashmir where he was briefed on the operational preparedness of the forces besides the recent counter infiltration operations in which over 10 militants have been killed, the spokesman said.
“Commending the alertness of all troops deployed along the LOC in foiling the nefarious designs of inimical forces, Gen Suhag stressed on the need to continue high degree of vigil and operational focus,” the defence statement read. General Suhag appreciated the professionalism with which the Army has been operating in full synergy with other security and civil agencies to keep the situation under control, and impressed on everyone to uphold human rights and exercise maximum possible restraint in dealing with the protesting mobs. He also directed the forces to prevent militants “who jeopardise the lives of innocent civilians from moving with impunity”.
Meanwhile, 26 BSF companies landed in Srinagar on Tuesday to deal with the ongoing unrest. While curfew was lifted from uptown parts of Srinagar city, it remained in effect downtown, as well as in south and north Kashmir, with reports of clashes with security forces in the south. Officials said BSF companies were drawn from Gujarat, Rajasthan and West Bengal. The BSF men would be taking complete charge within two days. Official sources said the Centre believes that the BSF is highly experienced in dealing with the situation in Kashmir and decided to send them to the valley to control the current unrest.
At least 11 people were injured on Tuesday when forces fired at protesters at Shopian’s Nowgam village during clashes. Violence in the area erupted when jawans were clearing Vihil and Nowgam roads. A woman identified as Haseena was injured after she was hit by a teargas shell in her abdomen in Watpora village of Bandipora during clashes. At Bandipora, the protesters attacked the official residence of Congress MLA and former minister Usman Majeed with stones, but he was reportedly not present there.