Antony urges troops to continue vigil

The Hindu: Shujaat Bukhari
Defence Minister tours border district of Rajouri in Jammu, praises their role
Photo: PTI
TAKING STOCK: Defence Minister A.K. Antony being briefed by Army Chief General Deepak Kapoor about the fencing at the forward area in Rajouri district of Jammu on Monday.
SRINAGAR: Defence Minister A.K. Antony on Tuesday impressed upon the troops to continue their vigil along the borders by maintaining a high degree of operational preparedness to meet any eventuality in future.

During his one-day tour of the border district of Rajouri in Jammu division, Mr. Antony lauded the role of the Army in curbing infiltration and reducing the levels of insurgency. “Army’s vigilance and proactive stance had ensured incident-free elections in the State which has been appreciated by one and all,” he told the troops expressing full satisfaction with the armed forces. He also appreciated their exceptional role in restoring normality in the region.

‘Operation Sadbhavana’
The Minister cited the projects under ‘Operation Sadbhavana’ by which the socio-economic conditions of the local populace had been uplifted in the insurgency-affected remote areas of the region.

Accompanied by Chief of Army Staff General Deepak Kapoor, Defence Secretary Vijay Singh, and General Officer Commanding, Northern Command, Lt. Gen. P.C. Bhardwaj, he was briefed about the situation in the forward areas.

Latest incursions
He was told about the latest incursions along the Line of Control (LoC) and the strategy to foil the attempts of militants and their mentors to sneak into this side. Mr. Antony complimented the forces on effectively dealing with the incursions in the Gurez and Kupwara sectors where 40 infiltrators were killed and the combing operation was on, the defence sources said.

The Minister later attended a ‘Sainik Bhoj’ where he personally interacted with all ranks of troops. He assured them that the government was committed to their welfare.

Ahead of the Minister’s visit, the Army achieved a major success by killing a top militant in the same area. Defence sources told The Hindu that Lashkar-e-Taiba’s Naib (deputy) divisional commander Abu Baber, a resident of Peshawar, was killed in a gunfight late Monday night.

Sources said that on the basis specific information, 37 Rashtriya Rifles along with the Special Operation Group of the local police cordoned off the Dharimal area in Saroti village 12 km from Mendher in Poonch district. One AK bullet action rifle, radio set and two magazines have been recovered from the slain militant commander.
Antony urges troops to continue vigil

Mumbai Mayhem: Taliban at the doorstep

... school bombing in Pakistan
The events in Pakistan on its 69th National Day, showing bombed out buildings, bullet ridden walls and weapon carrying men everywhere, indicate that the influence of those who seek to seize control of the country is increasing with each passing day.

TWENTY FOUR HOURS is a long time, they say in politics. It seems it is even longer in the life of a nation. On the morning of March 23, 2009, a British news channel was busy showing a special programme covering the situation in Pakistan’s Swat valley. The scenic valley has been in the news for months now for its detiorating security situation and the capitulation of the Pakistani government to the militants there. It is, however, being presented as an accord to implement Sharia law and not a caving in to the diktat of the Taliban.

When interviewed by the TV journalist, President Zardari made a complete denial of the reports of Pakistani territories being in the control of militants. The channel then panned to the town of Mingora in the Swat valley. If the ticker below the screen shots were to not indicate that this is a Pakistani town, the average viewer could have been forgiven for assuming these to be shots of war scarred Afghanistan.

Bombed out buildings, schools razed to ground, bullet ridden walls and only weapon carrying men everywhere. Every street showed the same scenes of rugged, bearded men, most with black turbans. Nowhere were any women to be spotted, not even burqa clad ones.
Taliban at the doorstep: A President in denial

Washington Post Foreign Service
Friday, March 27, 2009; 8:44 AM
PESHAWAR, Pakistan, Mar. 27 -- A suicide bomber detonated his explosives Friday in a crowded mosque in northwest Pakistan, killing at least 50 people and leaving more bodies buried in the rubble of the building, officials said. Officials said many of those killed and wounded Friday were members of the Frontier Corps, a paramilitary force that patrols the tribal zones. The mosque that was targeted was located in Jamrud town, near the main highway leading to the Khyber Pass into Afghanistan. It is very close to a major Frontier Corps barracks that dates back to British colonial rule.
Suicide Bomber Kills at Least 50 in Pakistan Mosque

Kupwara encounter
Eight members of the Army, one of them a Major, and 17 terrorists are reported to have been killed in a series of encounters between patrols of the Army and five different groups of terrorist infiltrators from the Pakistani territory in densely forested areas of the Kupwara district of Jammu & Kashmir. The encounters, which started on March 20, lasted five days.
The ploy behind the Kupwara encounter