Zero tolerance for terrorism: Defence ministry's stern message to militants in Kashmir valley

NEW DELHI: Two days after the Bandipora encounter that killed top Pakistani terrorists, the defence ministry on Monday said there's zero tolerance for terrorism.

“Our policy & determination is clear. There is zero tolerance for terrorism and we are going to stop cross border infiltration of terrorists,” said Subhash Bhamre, Minister of State - Defence.

“Our army is after them and trying to flush out terrorism from the valley,” added Bhamre. 

Briefing the media about the encounter on Sunday, the Indian Army and Jammu and Kashmir Police said that nearly 190 terrorists have been killed so far in 2017. 

“Out of these 190, 80 are local terrorists and 110 foreign. Out of these 110, 66 terrorists were killed near the LC while infiltrating...What we find this year is that we have killed approximately 125-130 terrorists in the hinterland of Kashmir Valley. This has resulted in a remarkable change in the situation," said General Officer Commanding (GOC) of 15 Corps Lt Gen J S Sandhu.

On Saturday night, six top Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) terrorists were gunned down in north Kashmir's Bandipora district. Among those killed include Obaid, nephew of Mumbai attack mastermind Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi and the son of Jamat-ud-Dawa second-in-command Abdul Rehman Makki. 

A Garud commando of the Indian Air Force (IAF) was also killed during the encounter.

The Indian Army and Jammu and Kashmir Police lashed out at local terrorists, questioning their ethics.

"It's easy to call yourself Mujahideen. But are you a Mujahideen or Pakistan's proxy," questioned General Officer Commanding (GOC) of 15 Corps Lt Gen J S Sandhu.