In Uri on Friday, relatives console the sister of Zahoor Ahmad Mir, an army porter who was killed in the militant attack on Thursday in the picturesque Nagin Valley in Gulmarg, a supposedly insurgency-free haven in Kashmir. PTI
Security personnel stand guard on the Gulmarg-Botapathri road during a search operation on Friday. On Thursday evening, militants ambushed an army vehicle belonging to the 18 Rashtriya Rifles at Botapathri in the Nagin Valley, 10km uphill from the ski resort of Gulmarg and a few kilometres from the Line of Control. The area has not witnessed militant violence in a long time. PTI
Jammu and Kashmir lieutenant governor Manoj Sinha on Friday pays homage to the two soldiers and two civilian porters killed in Gulmarg on Thursday. The Valley has been rocked by four militant attacks since October 16, leaving 12 dead and over a half-dozen injured. PTI
Bajrang Dal members protest against Pakistan in Gulmarg on Friday. The back-to-back militant attacks have suddenly brought Kashmir back into the militancy spotlight after a recent shift in rebel violence to Jammu. However, the militants in Jammu have been lying low for the past few weeks. PTI
Members of the Shiv Sena Dogra Front burn posters of Pakistan Prime minister Shehbaz Sharif in Jammu on Friday. PTI
Zahoor Ahmad Mir’s mother in Uri on Friday. Northern Army Commander Lieutenant General MV Suchindra Kumar on Friday told journalists in Jammu’s Udhampur that the focus is on breaking the cycle of violence, dismantling the terror ecosystem, empowering the youth and women, facilitating education, promoting sports, and reviving the region's rich historical and cultural heritage. PTI
A soldier stands guard on the Gulmarg-Botapathri road on Friday. ‘I must assure you that the situation is under control,’ Northern Army Commander Lieutenant General MV Suchindra Kumar said in Udhampur. PTI
Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi (in picture) said: ‘The policies of the NDA government at the Centre have completely failed to establish security and peace in Jammu and Kashmir. Contrary to their claims, the reality is that the state is living under the shadow of danger due to continuous terrorist activities, attacks on our soldiers and targeted killings of civilians.’
Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah said the ‘recent spate of attacks in Kashmir is a matter of serious concern’. His father, former chief minister Farooq Abdullah (in picture) took on Pakistan without naming the neighboring country.
‘Such attacks will continue to take place in this state,’ he said. ‘You know where they come from and it will not stop until some way is found to get out of this trouble…. We are not going to become a part of Pakistan. So, why are they doing this? To disrupt our future? To make us poorer? They are getting ruined themselves but are ruining us as well.’