Jaitley asks army to giving befitting reply to any aggression
Defence Minister Arun Jaitley asked the army to be prepared to give a befitting response to any "misadventure" from across the border. Jaitley was accompanied by Army chief General Bipin Rawat and Defence Secretary Sanjay Mitra and was on his maiden trip to J&K after becoming Defence Minister. He held a defence review meeting with army commanders in Srinagar.
Commanders apprise Jaitley of J&K situation
At the meeting the army commanders briefed Jaitley on the issues at the border areas and with Pakistan's ceasefire violations. They also briefed him about the growing instances of terror attacks inside the state and increasing instances of stone-pelting against the forces. He was also apprised of the counter-infiltration measures that have been put in place at the border.
J&K witnessing high-violence
Jaitley's visit came on the day that the forces carried out a massive door to door search of over 500 houses in the separatist hotbed of Shopian in south Kashmir. The operations were marred by massive stone-pelting against the army. However, no arrests were made. In addition, Pakistan began artillery fire upon new locations in the LoC, in the Pir Panjal valley of Jammu.
Army says used maximum restraint against miscreants
Defending their actions, the Army said "During the searches, maximum restraint was shown in dealing with the miscreants, who tried to disrupt the operation at Heff village...the operation concluded as planned this morning."
