On November 22, a top Army commander said that around 300 terrorists are active in Jammu and Kashmir, while 160 others are waiting on the launch pads for an opportunity to sneak into this side from across the Line of Control (LoC) in Pakistan.

“Around 300 terrorists are present in length and breadth of Jammu and Kashmir but we are making sure they are not able to carry out any action,” General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Northern Command, Lieutenant General Upendra Dwivedi said. 

Speaking on the sidelines of the platinum jubilee of the historic ‘Poonch Link-up Day’, Dwivedi further said that the security situation in the Union territory has undergone a major change after the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019 and terrorist activities have been controlled to a large extent.

He said that terrorists operating in Jammu and Kashmir are facing a shortage of weapons and the neighboring country is sending consignments of pistols, grenades, and drugs. “Small weapons are being used to target non-Jammu and Kashmir residents who come here to earn their living. Locals, security forces, and police have strongly condemned such acts. Those involved in killing innocents will face action,” the army officer added.

“The people from outside, the neighboring country, are adopting other means like smuggling pistols, grenades, and drugs to carry out minor actions-targeting innocent and unarmed persons who have come here to earn their livelihood and support the Kashmiris,” he further said.

The army commander said it is very sad that such incidents are taking place but police, security forces, and civilians have come together and decided that they will not allow such acts to happen.

Referring to Pakistan, Dwivedi said when nothing was achieved by sending big weapons and raising the Kashmir issue at the UN, OIC (Organisation of Islamic Cooperation), and other countries, they went for such type of actions as targeting innocents and sending small weapons and drugs.