Alien mercenaries spell trouble for security forces

SRINAGAR, July 23: Three recent encounters of the Army with militant groups 8212; all including foreign mercenaries 8212; reveal that the rules of the battle have changed in the Valley.

On Sunday, the Army lost Second Lieutenant Puneet Nath Datt in a gun-battle with three foreign militants on the outskirts of Soura. Datt8217;s funeral was held in New Delhi yesterday.

The next day, Major Yadav received serious burns and injuries in a similar encounter with militants of the Hizbul Mujahideen, including a foreign mercenary, at Wasun on the Srinagar-Sonmarg road. In another gun-battle, this time in the jungles near Lolab village, four personnel of the Army lost their lives. Battle-hardened and good fighters, foreign mercenaries have given a boost to militancy in the Valley, and put the security forces back on their toes. Army officers, who run into them in almost all the insurgent groups now, say they aim at inflicting the maximum damage on the enemy, before embracing almost suicidal ends in encounters.