Save your sons, stone-pelters die as terrorists, Army tells J&K moms

SRINAGAR: The Army said on Friday that “83%” of terrorists have a history of pelting stones at security forces. The general officer commanding 15 Corps, Lt Gen K J S Dhillon, also told reporters in Srinagar^[1] that the unearthing of a weapons cache along the Amarnath yatra route, including a US-made sniper rifle and an antipersonnel landmine with Pakistani ordnance markings, were additional evidence of a threat to the yatra.
“We have done an in-depth analysis of data on insurgency in Kashmir^[2]. My request to Kashmiri mothers is, listen to this carefully: 83% of local terrorists were once stone-pelters. So, if your son is throwing stones at the forces today for Rs 500, then he is tomorrow’s terrorist,” Gen Dhillon said. He then reeled off data on the short life expectancy of terrorists, saying 64% of those who became militants were killed within a year of choosing to live by the gun.
“Seven per cent terrorists die within 10 days, 9% in a month, 17% in three months, 36% in six months, and 64% in a year. If parents do not stop their son from pelting stones, chances are he will be eliminated within a year of picking up the gun,” Gen Dhillon added.
Pakistan^[3] is desperate to vitiate the atmosphere in Kashmir, which is evident from specific intelligence inputs, he said. IGP (Kashmir) S P Pani, who was also present at the press briefing, said there had been more than 10 serious attempts to trigger IED blasts in the Valley, mostly in the Pulwama^[4] and Shopian areas, but security forces had tackled them.
Gen Dhillion said that the threat from IEDs in the Valley was more pronounced but was being tackled effectively by security forces. He said searches were on in Shopian where an attempt to attack forces was made on Thursday night.
In Video:Terrorists are trying to target Amarnath Yatra: Army^[5]

References

1. ^{^} Srinagar (www.happytrips.com)
2. ^{^} Kashmir (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)
3. ^{^} Pakistan (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)
4. ^{^} Pulwama (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)
5. ^{^} Terrorists are trying to target Amarnath Yatra: Army (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)

from Times of India https://ift.tt/2OCkfGM