The 72-hour long counter insurgency operations, which dealt a severe blow to terror groups claiming 13 terrorists’ lives in Kashmir Valley, launched in the two districts on Saturday night and continued till late is considered to be the largest in terms of terrorists casualty and the time period spread over three places of Shopian and Anantnag Districts of Kashmir Valley in recent times. The major offensive carried by the security agencies once again reminds one that ‘hot pursuit’ followed in Kashmir especially Shopian indicates that security forces have once again tightened their hold on the terror bastion. Of the 13 slain terrorists 10 were from Shopian, who had joined since last one year, shows how the radicalisation of youth have been taking place irrespective of government denial. Once considered to be ground zero of terrorism Shopian had been a tough terrain for the security agencies to penetrate as the local support and sympathies were with terrorists, who were the children from that area and till last year it was a free land for them. The gradual increase in security footprint it looks has helped in gaining the results for security agencies. The forceful resistance to security forces to enter into Heff Shermaal area in the district in April last year could have compelled security agencies to redraw a new strategy to make Shopian a terrorist free zone. Considered a gateway to the Kashmir Valley for being strategically located on the way to the historical Mughal Road, Shopian had nearly 30 active terrorists, including Saddam Paddar and Zeenat-ul-Islam who are rated A++ category terrorists and carry a cash reward on them. Both are still at large. The area, south of the Peer Panjal Mountain Range, can provide free access to terrorists to cross over to Doda, Kishtwar and Poonch area of Jammu. Some of the encounter in the area saw the top terrorist leadership, including the main recruiter for Hizbul Mujahideen Irfan Maldera and the group’s financier Waseem Sheikh, being eliminated last year. More than 50 youths from the area “disappeared”, a euphemism for joining various terrorist groups, after the killing of Burhan Wani, the poster boy of Hizbul Mujahideen, on July 8, 2016. The loss of three solders against 13 terrorists is big one but when in war every soldier’s martyrdom will be remembered for ever.
