Infiltration allegations: Indian army claims killing three militants

Ex-Afghan president endorses Modi’s remarks on Balochistan

SRINAGAR: India’s army said it shot dead three ‘militants’ from Pakistan on Sunday following an attack by the gunmen two days earlier on an Indian border post in the disputed territory of Kashmir.

The militants were killed in the Tanghdar sector of north Kashmir, Lieutenant Colonel Manish Kumar told Reuters, adding that three rifles and military supplies had been recovered from the scene.

Indian troops have killed 103 militants in the restive Kashmir Valley so far this year -- the highest toll in recent years.

According to an official estimate, 56 militants have crossed into Kashmir this year through July, up from 36 in the same period last year.

A Pakistani government spokesman could not immediately be reached for comment on Sunday, but Islamabad denies any such activities.

Karzai lauds Balochistan remarks

Former Afghan president Hamid Karzai in an interview to the Times of India has appreciated Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his remarks on Balochistan during his Independence Day speech.

“The troubles we have in this region have been left to us by the British. India-Pakistan, Pakistan-Afghanistan, Durand Line, everything is a legacy of the British,” said Karzai, who has warm ties with New Delhi despite having left office.

After Pakistan had raised gross rights violations by security forces in Indian-controlled Kashmir, Modi had in India’s Independence Day speech last week said that residents of Balochistan and Gilgit-Baltistan had thanked him for saying that security forces have committed human rights violations in their regions.

Karzai went on to term Modi’s remarks an “acceptance of reality”, which is necessary to address the issue, The Economic Times reported.



“The issue of Baloch and their rights and need for them to have peace is something that we commiserate, we understand the remarks of the prime minister of India,” the former Afghan president said.

“We wish Balochistan and its people very well. We wish all other regions in Pakistan very, very well. We wish security and prosperity for that region and for all other regions in this part of the world. In other words, we understand the remarks of Prime Minister Modi and I appreciate it.”

Published in The Express Tribune, August 22^nd,  2016.