Army denies Al Qaeda presence in J&K

Ruling out the presence of Al Qaeda in Jammu and Kashmir, the army said on Sunday that nothing has been established so far to corroborate reports about the terror group's operatives in the state.

"Much has been said by the print and electronic media about Al Qaeda's presence in Jammu and Kashmir but nothing has been established so far to corroborate these reports," Northern Command Chief, Lt Gen H S Panag, told reporters on the occasion of the unit's 36th Raising Day.

Gen Panag, looking after the operational command in Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir regions, said, "I would say we also have no records in the past about Al Qaeda operatives having being found during counter-insurgency operations in the state."

"Only one odd case was reported about one Al Qaeda militant of Afghanistan a long time back," he said, adding after that after investigation, it also turned to be untrue.

"I think security forces, the CID and IB are investigating it. We shall wait for what they have to say," said Panag, who took over as the Northern Command's GOC-in-C in January.

He also ruled out Al Qaeda's relations with militant groups operating in Jammu and Kashmir -- Lashker-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad.

"We are only aware of Al Qaeda's strong relations with JeM and LeT in Pakistan," he maintained.

In Pakistan, Al Qaeda has strong relations with LeT and JeM, whose cadres they train and assist them in the operations against the government, Panag said, adding they work in coordination in Pakistan, which is a major threat to the establishment.

He said such a situation is unlikely in India as the government is stable.

Ruling out demilitarisation in Jammu and Kashmir at this juncture, Panag said that it is not up to the Army to take a decision on withdrawal or re-deployment of troops in the state.

Contradicting media reports, he said the Army does not have any individual interests in staying in the state.

"Instead jawans would be happy to go back and stay with their families," he claimed. "But when the situation improves, the Army's strength would automatically be decreased."

He said of the total 3.37 lakh troops in the state, only 25 percent are being used for counter insurgency operations in in-depth areas.

"To deal with counter insurgency and counter infiltration operations along the Line of Control, 45 to 50 per cent troops are being deployed," he said.

Elaborating, Panag said only about 80,000 troops are involved in the counter terrorism operation in in-depth areas, 45-50 percent in counter infiltration operations and rest are support forces.

"How can one think of demilitarisation at this juncture when militant outfits and United Jehad Council have not changed their stand," he said.

On trans-LoC surrenders, he said 53 militants after crossing over to this side via the LoC from PoK have surrendered this year as compared to 105 last year.

"Due to harassment by ISI and rebel outfits, Kashmiri militants in PoK are fed up with militancy and cross to this side and surrender," he claimed.

He said there has been a dip in the level of violence and number of terrorism-related incidents since 2004.

Panag said militants try to infiltrate into army ranks but 'we will not allow that to happen. At times, militants pressurise families of jawans and take benefit of that situation by infiltrating into their ranks. But so far, they have not been successful'.