Terrorists' aim was to disturb peace in areas little affected by prevailing unrest in valley: Army

The five terrorists liquidated in the Uri sector on Tuesday were planning to disturb peace and tranquillity in those areas which were little affected by the ongoing unrest in the Kashmir Valley, However, the army thwarted their design.

Major General J.S. Nain, General Officer Commanding (GOC), Baramulla Division, told reporters, "Considering the huge cache of arms we seized, we suspect that they were planning to target some high-value civil or military establishment. There are some areas in the Valley such as Uri, Bandi, Chandanwari, Rampur, Buniyar, Naugam, Gulmarg, which are little affected by the prevailing situation and there is a peace and tranquillity, we suspect that their aim could be to disturb the peaceful environment in these areas."

Divulging detail of the operation, the GOC said in the morning of the August 15 when the entire nation was celebrating Independence Day, five "foreign" terrorists sneaked into the Uri sector and the army shot dead all the five terrorists in a successful operation.

"Huge cache of arms, ammunitions and explosives was seized from the possession," he said.

Stating that their aim was to disturb the peaceful environment, the GOC said, "All the five terrorists, who had come in the morning, were in combat fatigue and the time we started our operation here, terrorists also attacked Srinagar city in which a CRPF commandant was killed and some jawans were injured."

"They had chosen such a time and date so that their attacks could become a huge issue among the media and they could hog limelight, and show it to the world that they successfully carried out attacks on such an important day. However, the army thwarted their design by liquidating all the five terrorists," he added.

"We have fencing close to the Line of Control (LoC), they were shot dead between the LoC and the fence by our jawans, who extra vigil in view of Independence Day. They successfully concluded the operation," said the GOC.

He said it was difficult to say whether the group of five terrorists was fidayeen or had come for a fire assault, or their purpose was something else, but the type of arms, ammunitions and explosives were seized from their possession, it could be said that their target and preparation was to carry out a big attack.