Kupwara: Stone pelting after terror attack on Army camp

Kupwara (Jammu and Kashmir) [India] Apr 27 (ANI): Stone pelting returned to haunt the Valley on Thursday, as a mob was seen hurling stones and bricks at Army personnel near the site of the terror attack in Kupwara. At least three soldiers including an Army officer lost their lives in the attack on an Army camp this morning. The injured soldiers were airlifted to Army's 92 Base Hospital here for treatment. Two terrorists were eliminated and combing operations were launched to ensure no untoward elements were left in the vicinity. The stone pelting began a few kilometers away from the Army camp in Kupwara where the terror attack took place at 4:30 a.m. The protesters were trying to disturb movement of the Army convoy by pelting stones on the security forces. The Valley has witnessed a string of violent incidents this month starting with clashes between civilians and security forces and in the run-up to the Srinagar by-polls on April 9. The People's Democratic Party (PDP)-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in the state had on Wednesday banned 22 social networking sites and applications, including Facebook, WhatsApp and Twitter in Kashmir on the grounds that these were being misused to fan trouble. Tension in Kashmir over the past few months has escalated immensely and several terror modules have been identified in the process. More than 100 soldiers have been killed in the Valley since the beginning of 2016, and the number tally has been rising rapidly as these attacks have become more frequent in recent times. Not only soldiers but the number of civilian causalities in the region has also witnessed a sharp rise after the sentiment of dissent among the people of the region increased last year. Driven by separatist, a large section of the people residing in the Valley resorted to protests against the army after popular Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani was encountered last year. This led to a sharp escalation of tension in the region, fuelled by stone-pelting by the residents. When the army retaliated with pellets, several innocents suffered permanent injuries and a large number of people succumbed to injuries. When the first by-polls were attempted in the Valley earlier this month, there was a large-scale violence in specific regions, with Anantnag witnessing violence and bloodshed. More than three hundred people suffered injuries and around eight men were killed in the middle of retaliatory gunfire and stone-pelting. The Mehbooba Mufti government has made several attempts to scale down the violence in the terror-trotted Valley, but has failed miserably. Yet the soldiers and the civilians in the region continue to be victims of major attacks originating from across the border. This attack comes days after Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti had a discussion with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh to improve the situation in the Valley. (ANI)