A high-level meeting is currently being held in Delhi by Union Home Minister Amit Shah to review the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir. The meeting is taking place in the midst of a spike in targeted killings in the Valley. In the last three months, at least 16 civilians, including a few migrants, have been killed in separate incidents of targeted killings by militants.
The hybrid militants in the past three months have killed 16 civilians in targeted attacks. The slain include 10 Kashmiri Muslims and six Hindus.
The meeting is underway at the Ministry of Home Affairs in the North Block. The meeting is being attended by Jammu and Kashmir L-G Manoj Sinha, National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval, Army Chief General Manoj Pande, Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla, DG CRPF Kuldiep Singh, Border Security Force (BSF) Chief Pankaj Singh, Jammu and Kashmir DGP Dilbagh Singh and other top officials.
The meeting today is the second in less than a fortnight, and it comes at a time when terrorists have been carrying out targeted killings in the Valley. In the most recent meeting on June 17, the Home Minister advocated for proactive and coordinated counter-terror operations, and he asked security forces to ensure zero cross-border infiltration and to eradicate terrorism from the UT, which was established in August 2019.
Earlier that day, Doval met with Shah shortly after a bank manager was killed by a terrorist in Kashmir’s Kulgam district. Militants opened fire on two migrant labourers in the Budgam district late at night. One of them died as a result of his injuries, while the other is being treated at a nearby hospital.
Targeted killings have become a new tactic in Kashmir, where the Modi government has given security forces carte blanche to take the harshest measures against those involved in militants activities.
Protesters marched from the Press Club to Ambedkar Chowk on Thursday under the banner of the ‘All Jammu-based reserved categories employees association.’ Protesting employees staged a sit-in at Panama Chowk in the city’s heart today to press their demand.
