Militant group Jaish-e-Mohammad is nothing but a “child” of the Pakistan Army, and there is no doubt that Islamabad “100%” had a role in the terror attack in Pulwama last week, the Indian Army said at a media briefing on Tuesday.
The Army said that the top leadership of the outfit in the Kashmir Valley had been eliminated within 100 hours of the attack. Three militants affiliated to the extremist group were killed in a 17-hour gunfight with security forces in Pulwama on Monday. Four soldiers were also killed in the gun battle, including a major.
The Indian Army’s Chinar Corps Commander Kanwal Jeet Singh Dhillon warned youth in Kashmir: “You pick up a gun, and you are dead – unless you surrender. This is a message and request to all the mothers of Kashmir. There is a very good surrender policy made by the government so that they can come back into the mainstream.”
The gunfight on Monday was the result of complete synergy among different security forces, Dhillon said.
Dhillon said the Jaish-e-Mohammad is controlled by the Pakistan Army and the spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence. He said an investigation is on into the February 14 attack, in which 40 personnel of Central Reserve Police Force were killed. The Jaish-e-Mohammad had claimed responsibility for the attack.
“The type of car bomb attack that took place in Pulwama on February 14, happened after a long time in Kashmir,” Dhillon said. “We will keep all options open to deal with these kinds of attacks. We have leads on the type of explosives used but I can’t share the details as an investigation is underway.”
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