Srinagar, July 7: General Officer Commanding (GOC) 15 Corps, Lieutenant General Om Prakash, Friday said that Army exercised restraint while dealing with the situation at Pampore, where militants attacked and killed a soldier and injured another.
In a statement, Gen Prakash said that the incident occurred during road securing operations prior to movement of the Army convoy at about 1500 hours. “A group of soldiers were securing the NH 44 and on finding a suspiciously parked auto rickshaw and scooter at Kadlabal Chowk, Pampore, two soldiers approached these vehicles,” GOC said adding that the two soldiers were indiscriminately fired upon from inside a shop at very close range and the firing led to chaos in the market. “The Army soldiers in spite of suffering casualties displayed utmost restraint and did not fire at the fleeing militants to avoid collateral damage to the people.” He added that inimical elements are likely to fire upon security forces in busy populated areas and incite them to open fire so that it could lead to death/ injuries to innocent civilians and cause collateral damage. Operations to nab the culprits have been launched, he said.
About the ongoing operations in Boban-Mankal, Handwara, General Prakash said that items recovered from the six killed militants indicate that either they were a receiving group or freshly infiltrated militants. “The identification and status of the militants killed is being ascertained by the Police. There are inputs of large concentration of militants in launch pads across the line of control which indicates likelihood of increased attempts at infiltration in the future,” he said. The GOC conveyed that, the Army is fully geared up and is maintaining a high level of vigil to thwart nefarious designs of the adversary.

Lastupdate on : Sat, 7 Jul 2012 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Sat, 7 Jul 2012 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Sun, 8 Jul 2012 00:00:00 IST