Srinagar: Policemen fighting terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir are becoming their ‘soft targets’. Policemen can be seen shopping in the crowded market or dropping their children at school.
Such needs of theirs have made them ‘soft targets’ of terrorists. Assistant Sub-Inspector Mushtaq Ahmed was the 49th person to lose his life due to terrorist violence in Jammu and Kashmir in the last nearly six months.
Despite successful counter-insurgency operations by the security forces in the Union Territory, the incidents of ‘soft targets’ being targeted by terrorists are on the rise.
Terrorists opened fire on policemen while patrolling the Lal Bazar on the outskirts of Srinagar. Ahmed (56) was killed in the attack while two of his colleagues… constables Fayaz Ahmed and Abu Bakr… were injured.
Officials said on Wednesday that 11 policemen of the state have been killed by terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir since January.
At the same time, six army personnel and five paramilitary personnel have also died this year. A total of 22 security personnel have been killed by terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir since January.
A total of 42 security personnel were killed in the Valley last year, out of which 21 were personnel of the Jammu and Kashmir Police. It is noteworthy that Aqib Mushtaq, the son of policeman Ahmed and an aide of terrorists, was killed in an encounter in Kulgam in April 2020.
Among the 49 victims of terrorist violence, 27 are civilians, who were attacked in different parts of the Valley. Due to this, panic spread among Kashmiri Pandits and Dogra employees posted in the Valley under the Prime Minister’s Employment Package.
They have been on strike since May demanding a transfer from Kashmir to Jammu. According to police officials, the terrorists are looking for ‘soft targets’ to register their presence without much hassle.
An official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that since the state police are part of the first line of security, its personnel are the target of terrorists.
“Police personnel are deployed at all places. They are part of the first line of protection. The army is within its camps and the fact is that the army is the last resort.
“We are seen everywhere, we are easy targets,” he said. We have to go to our homes, buy vegetables from the market, and drop our children at school. We are soft targets.” Many policemen like constable Ghulam Hassan were unarmed when the terrorists attacked. Hassan was assassinated on May 7. On the other hand, policemen like constable Saifullah Qadri were with the family when terrorists took their lives.
Qadri was shot dead outside his house. His seven-year-old daughter was injured in the attack.
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