No friction between army, CRPF over Pampore op: Northern Command

The Indian Army's Northern Command on Tuesday denied any friction between the army and the CRPF in handling the Pampore operations, in the wake of reports that the two forces were competing for credit for killing the two militants in the 48-hour long operation.

"Certain sections of the media have reported about the friction between the army and CRPF (Central Reserve Police Force) on handling of the terrorist-initiated incident at Pampore, Kashmir. It is a well-known fact that all security agencies operating in Jammu and Kashmir have established outstanding synergy in their focused efforts to thwart nefarious designs of the anti-national forces," an official statement of the Northern Command said.

"It is a testimony to this synergy and jointness that the overall security situation has shown a remarkable improvement from its peak militancy levels," it said.

"It is time to look at the greater integration and synergy to minimise losses to our forces, which is exactly what is being done. There is no question of any agency squabbling for credit under such circumstances," the statement added.

"Reporting on differences between the army and the CRPF is unhelpful and does no credit to the excellent manner in which all security forces and intelligence agencies are working in the most challenging conditions."

There were reports of a tiff between the army and the CRPF after operations in Pampore where a bus of CRPF troopers was attacked on Saturday, killing eight CRPF personnel and injuring 22 others. Security forces killed the two terrorists in the operation that followed.

A tweet from the Northern Command first said two terrorists were killed in the operation. Another tweet soon after said the terrorists were killed in "joint action".

However, a third tweet said: "Two terrorists killed by the CRPF in retaliatory action. Earlier tweet stands corrected."

--IANS

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