Infiltration bid: Eight militants killed,encounter on

On Wednesday,the Army had spotted militants near the LoC and started a big operation along the LoC which expanded up to Hafradu forests,sources said.

They added that the Army and the Special Operations Group of the police are engaged in the operation and looking for four to five other militants who are believed to be hiding in the Gajpathi forests of Rangwar. Special assault teams have been formed to track down the hiding militants.

Defense spokesperson Lt Col J S Brar said that in the last three days,eight infiltrators had been killed near the LoC in the Keran sector. On Wednesday,the first contact was established with infiltrators and three militants were killed in the initial encounter. On Friday,another infiltrator was killed in the same sector,while this morning five more were killed in the neighboring area, he said. The operation is still going on, he said.

DIG (North Kashmir) Abdul Qayoom Manhas also confirmed that operation against the militants was underway.

The fresh operation started on Friday night and so far five militants have been killed. The identity of the slain militants is yet to be ascertained, he said. Manhas said this was the third encounter in the Keran and Trehgam areas of Kupwara in the last three days.

Besides weapons,winter gear,snow cutters and ice axes were recovered from the infiltrators. The recovery of the winter equipment indicates that the militants had come prepared to brave the cold weather that the area receives.

North Kashmirs Kupwara belt received heavy snowfall in February and most of the infiltration routes and mountain passes are still under the snow.

Mirwaiz calls for Hurriyat unity

Barely 10 days after the snub from the militant leadership in Pakistan,Hurriyat moderates on Saturday sent the first feelers of unity among the divided leadership of the grouping. Hurriyat chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq called for a Common Minimum Programme (CMP) among the separatists and invited all pro-freedom leaders to a joint platform. Hurriyat hardliner Syed Ali Shah Geelani,however,chose to remain silent on the Mirwaizs unity call.

I invite all pro-movement leaders to come together. We have a common goal,a common destination, the Mirwaiz said addressing the media in Srinagar. Lets all come forward,develop a consensus and work under a Common Minimum Programme (CMP) so that we can prevail upon India,Pakistan and international community.

The Mirwaizs call for unity has come after Syed Salah-ud-din,chairman of the United Jihad Council an amalgam of militant outfits operating in Jammu and Kashmir - threatened that the militant leadership would take direct control of the separatist movement,if separatists failed to reach common ground. The Hurriyat hardliners are apparently unmoved by the Mirwaizs call. I dont think,this (Mirwaizs appeal for unity) needs any comments, Geelani said. In his first press conference after his return from Geneva and Saudi Arabia,the Mirwaiz said Kashmir was a political and not a religious issue.

ENS