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| India-Pakistan |
| 'Won't allow terrorists to disrupt J&K polls' |
| 2008-07-23 |
| The government on Tuesday said the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections would be held in "time" and any attempt by terrorists to disrupt the process would be dealt with firmly. "The government and security forces have a single-point agenda to ensure that elections are held peacefully and fairly," Defence Minister A.K. Antony said in the backdrop of a sharp increase in infiltration attempts from across the Line of Control in the past three months. "We have reports that more attempts would be made in the next few months, in the run-up to the elections," Mr. Antony told journalists on the sidelines of an Army seminar here. "We would spare no effort to defeat these attempts of anti-national forces." The troops had been asked to be pro-active, keeping in mind human rights. Mr. Antony said security experts held meetings to take stock of the situation and frame a strategy to counter the threat of terrorists. Infiltration attempts Army authorities have said April and May this year accounted for almost 90 infiltration attempts, most of which were foiled. But Home Ministry officials claimed that nearly 100 terrorists had entered the Kashmir valley. Cumulative figures for the last six months show a staggering 161 infiltration bids after a dip in the past two years, with most of the attempts reported from the Uri, Machail and Keran sectors in northern Kashmir, say Army sources. Based on radio intercepts of militants, they said, the bulk of those attempting to cross were from the Lashkar-e-Taiba and the Jaish-e-Mohammed, with instructions to enforce a poll boycott at gunpoint. |
| Posted by:Fred |