Musa leads a small group, says Army
Army’s General Officer Commanding (GOC), Lt Gen J S Sandhu today said that the presence of an al-Qaeda linked militant group, headed by Zakir Musa, was not very large in Kashmir as only few people had joined it.
“Zakir Musa has talked of Ansar Gazwat-ul-Hind, but the presence of this group is not very large as of now. There are only some people who have joined them,” Sandhu told reporters here.
Sandhu also said that the situation in Kashmir is better compared to the previous year and violence has reduced to a great extent.
He also said that since last year the presence of militants in South Kashmir has “increased,” particular in the area of Shopian.
J.S. Sandhu further said that the operations against these militants is continuing, and added, “We have opened at least 7 to 8 new operating bases in Shopian.”
He also said, “There have been number of local boys who have joined the terrorists,” and added that they are hoping that in due course they “start realizing that it’s not worth it.”
The GOC said that they are able to handle the situation there.
Talking about the situation in Kashmir, J.S. Sandhu said, “The situation is better than before and people are doing their daily day to day activities and the violence level have reduced to a great extent.”
KV Correspondent
