According to official police sources, Indian security forces conducted two operations on Saturday at Pulwama and Budgam in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), wherein five suspected militants from the Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) group were killed. In response, the Pakistani government released a statement condemning the “extra-judicial killing” of the Kashmiris.
Jammu and Kashmir’s police chief, Vijay Kumar, said that the security forces had information that the militants, including JeM commander Zahid Wani and Pakistani national Kafeel, had been in hiding in the areas. The operation was jointly conducted by the J&K police and Chiran Corps.
05 #terrorists of #Pakistan sponsored proscribed #terror outfits LeT & JeM killed in dual #encounters in last 12 hours. JeM commander terrorist Zahid Wani & a Pakistani terrorist among the killed. Big #success for us: IGP Kashmir@JmuKmrPolice
— Kashmir Zone Police (@KashmirPolice) January 30, 2022
Wani’s death is significant as he was leading the JeM operations in J&K after his predecessor was killed during a security operation in 2019. It is expected that this will directly affect the extremist group by weakening its leadership.
Over the past two years, the police has been burying those killed in such security operations in remote graveyards to prevent large funeral gatherings or protests. Similarly, family members of those killed in Saturday’s operations were also unable to access the bodies, resulting in further discontent with the Indian security forces.
For instance, the family of one of the alleged militants, Inayat Ahmad Mir, protested the killing and insisted that he had “nothing to do with militancy.” They demanded Mir’s body so that they could conduct the burial rites. However, the police maintain that Mir was a “hybrid militant” who had “joined the terror fold recently.” They said that the security forces also intend on charging Mir’s father for “providing shelter” to militants, which is criminalised under the country’s anti-terror laws.
In response to Saturday’s killings, the Pakistani Foreign Ministry released a statement condemning the incident. It read, “In their unabated reign of terror, the Indian occupation forces have martyred at least 23 Kashmiris in fake “encounters” and so-called cordon-and-search operations in the month of January alone.” According to the release, these operations were “driven by the far-right extremist ‘Hindutva’ ideology that provokes and condones genocide of Muslims.” Consequently, the statement called for “international accountability” of India’s actions in J&K.
Due to a surge in attacks against civilians from minority communities, Indian forces have cracked down on growing militancy and extremism in the region. The forces claim that over 189 rebels were killed during such operations in 2021 alone. Furthermore, in January 2022, the Indian police said that they have killed 21 rebels in J&K, including eight Pakistani nationals.
Such incidents in the region have been central to the rising tensions between India and Pakistan. Pakistan has often criticised India for conducting such operations in J&K. Meanwhile, India maintains that these operations are critical to bringing an end to extremism and terrorism in the region that has often posed a threat to the country’s national security.