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Lay off Kargil, army chief warns Pakistan

Chief of Army Staff General Ved Prakash Malik today warned Pakistan against shelling Indian positions in the Kargil sector of Jammu and Kashmir.

Talking to reporters in Srinagar, General Malik said: "If Pakistan does anything in Kargil, we are more than capable to do worse [to them]."

He, however, said the situation in Kargil was not as bad as was being made out in the media. "Pakistani troops are firing some shells into Kargil, but it is not so alarming," he said.

He said 750 to 800 vehicles were crossing the sector daily and winter stocking in Leh and Kargil was almost complete.

The army chief said the situation in the Kashmir valley was improving despite the continued efforts of Pakistan to infiltrate more and more trained militants into India. He gave the credit for this to the security forces and the people of Kashmir.

On arrival in Srinagar, General Malik reviewed the security situation with his commanders. He said it was a matter of satisfaction that things were improving. People in the valley are now busy with normal activities, tourism has started picking up, and the police are actively involved in counter-insurgency operations, he said.

But he said there are areas where more efforts are needed to bring peace. "We are on the job and militancy will be routed out of the valley," he promised.

In reply to a question, he said there was no doubt that Pakistan was still indulging in a proxy war by sending trained militants armed with sophisticated weapons to Kashmir. But "whatever efforts Pakistan may make, they are not going to succeed", he said.

Replying to another question, he said more and more people are joining the army in the wake of the salary revisions recommended by the Fifth Pay Commission.

Meanwhile, a police head constable was killed and another injured when unidentified gunmen fired upon them during a botched attempt to loot a bank at Rainawari in downtown Srinagar.

Elsewhere in the valley, five militants and an army jawan were among seven people killed since last evening.

Official sources said unidentified gunmen entered a bank at Rainawari today in an attempt to rob it. When the police guards resisted, they opened fire, killing Head Constable Ghulam Mohi-ud-Din and injuring another.

The gunmen also took away the weapons of the policemen, the sources said. A hunt has been launched to catch them.

A blast took place in a bunker of security forces at Karan Nagar today. But no one was injured.

The sources said security forces killed four militants at Manzgam in the frontier district of Kupwara during a 12-hour-long encounter.

Unidentified militants shot dead a special police officer, Wali Mohammad Mir, at Mandgam late last night.

A security force jawan was killed during an exchange of fire with militants at Machil while a foreign militant was killed at Rafiabad today.

UNI

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