Soaring rise in militancy points towards failure at Central, State level: Omar Abdullah

Asserting that the current situation at the border was cause for grave concern, former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah on Wednesday stated that in recent months there has been a significant deterioration in relations between India and Pakistan, adding that it pointed to the clear failure by the Centre and the state government.

Speaking to the media here, Omar said the situation within the nation as well as on the border and the Line of Control (LoC) was worrisome.

"We have seen a significant increase in tension along the LoC, unfortunately we have also seen a rise in militancy resulting in far higher casualties than in recent years. All this points towards a failure on the level of the state government as well as the Centre," he said.

Earlier, in a series of tweets, Omar had asserted that regardless of what the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said, Pakistan is no more isolated internationally today than it was six months ago.

Abdullah claimed that terrorists were clearly no more deterred from attacking India's armed forces now than they were prior to the surgical strikes conducted in September.

"So, on a day on which seven of our brave soldiers lost their lives to terrorist bullets the government must explain its Pakistan policy to nation. It's all very well to call people who question the govt line "Friends of Pakistan" but that's a poor excuse for a cogent, thought out policy," he said.

Also describing the deadly terror attack as Pakistan's 'desperation', Jammu and Kashmir Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh said Islamabad cannot break the morale of the Indian Army by such 'cowardly acts'.

Talking to ANI, Singh said, "It is a cowardly act on the part of the Pakistan and it shows their desperation. In clear terms Pakistan cannot break our morale because we are resort to fight out militancy and terror and we are doing it."

"As of now the operation is almost over but the search operation is going on. Till now two officers and five jawans have been martyred, three terrorist have been eliminated. There is a possibility there might be some other also. There is no firing as of now but search operation is on to meet out any eventuality," he added.

Meanwhile, blinds (unexploded shells) were destroyed at the site of the deadly terror attack on an army base in Nagrota, Jammu and Kashmir, by a bomb disposal team during the combing operations that are still underway.

Extensive combing operations resumed today morning in Nagrota, where terrorists attacked an army base in which seven defence personnel lost their lives.

Army spokesman, Lt. Col Manish Mehta said that search and combing operation began with first day light.

A group of heavily-armed terrorists in police uniform stormed an army unit in Nagrota in morning hours yesterday, triggering an intense gunbattle that lasted for hours.

Seven army personnel, including two officers, were killed in this attack before three terrorists were killed in an armed stand-off which also involved a hostage-like situation with 12 soldiers, two ladies and two children being held captive.