2017 has also seen a sharp increase in ceasefire violations at the LoC by Pakistan.
The Army has appointed Lt Gen NPS Hira as Deputy Chief of Army Staff with effect from March 14.
The attackers were forced to retreat to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir without causing any damage on the Indian side
People on Tuesday took to streets and pelted stones on security forces at several places of Kashmir, including Pampore where a 48-hour gunbattle between three terrorists and the army ended on Monday.
A constable of Jammu and Kashmir police and two others, arrested for their alleged roles in the narcotics business money derived from which was used to fundbanned terror outfit Hizb-Ul-Mujahideen, were on Monday sent to judicial custody till February 17 by a Delhi court.
Present vice chief Lt Gen BS Raju would be succeeding Lt Gen AS Bhinder who is superannuating on February 28 at the South Western Army Command.
Twenty Indian soldiers posted in border areas of the country, most of them in Jammu and Kashmir, have gone missing from 1996 to 2010, according to an RTI reply.
"Our armed forces represent India's diversity and the collective spirit of 130 crore Indians. Our forces are not only known for their utmost professionalism but also they are at the forefront helping people in times of crisis. Our forces are synonymous with trust," Modi said.
Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus service suspended over arrest of Pakistani truck driver carrying contraband.
The Shiv Sena on Friday targeted the Centre by questioning the "efficacy" of the 2016 surgical strike and said the perception that it would demoralise Pakistani terrorists remained an "illusion" as Indian soldiers continue to get killed in terror attacks in Kashmir. Accusing the Modi government of boasting about how Pakistan was straightened out after the surgical strike, the Sena sought to know whether it has really happened. It also observed that troubled borders were not good for the country's well-being.
Singh instructed officials to try their best to restore peace in the border state as early as possible.
"My appeal is for calm. We have to sit down, put our heads together and see if we can find a way out of this situation. So everybody, who is in anyway involved in Jammu-Kashmir, needs to introspect and see what we can do to stop it. It is not person or one organisation which can do it (alone)," the top army commander said.
Several avalanches and landslides hit the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway on Friday even as the death toll in the series of snow slides that have hit Jammu and Kashmir crossed 20 with the recovery of the bodies of four soldiers.
Pakistani troops violated the ceasefire along the Line of Control in Kashmir on the morning of the 65th Republic Day by resorting to unprovoked firing for three hours, army said.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday reviewed the situation prevailing in Jammu and Kashmir, including the security arrangements along the border with Pakistan, officials said.
Bhopal Mukhiya of JAK Rifles, who is posted at Uri, was taken into custody after two hand grenades were recovered from his possession during search at the main gate of the airport
'We are caught between the devil and the deep blue sea'
"Around 5 am, militants opened firing on an army camp at Langate in Kupwara district, which was retaliated by the alert jawans," an army official said.
The Indian army personnel responded to the ceasefire violation in adequate measure, the sources said.
Lt Gen Dua called on Governor Vohra and briefed him about the security situation and the Army's preparedness to deal with any arising exigency.
Of the 18 terrorists killed, 14 belonged to JeM including its "six main commanders", the Lt. Gen., flanked by IGP Kashmir S P Pani and IG CRPF Zulfiqar Hassan, said.
The deceased jawan was identified as 20-year-old Sepoy Mustapure Shubham Suryakant, a resident of Konerwadi village in Parbhani district of Maharashtra.
A defence spokesperson said the Indian Army retaliated 'effectively and strongly' to the ceasefire violation in Keran sector in Kupwara district this afternoon, with precision targeting of gun areas, terrorist launchpads and ammunition dump across the LoC.
Najar was wanted for his alleged involvement in more than 50 killings
'Media reports have highlighted that hawala money is coming from Arab countries. And this money is used to create disturbances in Jammu and Kashmir.'
There was no loss of life or injury to anyone in the firing, a police officer said.
This is the second ceasefire violation by Pakistan in as many days.
'In both the attacks last week, terrorists had come equipped for a prolonged fight and were eventually prepared to die. This is a new breed of fidayeen Pakistan has invested in.'
Ceasefire violations are still taking place in Uri and Rajouri sectors, Army sources said.
'The awareness of how big my father's sacrifice came to me when we went for the Republic Day parade and my mother received the Ashok Chakra,' Rukmini Vasanth, whose father Colonel Vasanth Venugopal was killed in action fighting terrorists, tells Rediff.com's Archana Masih.
From being billed as mother of "all confidence building measures" to derision as a "cosmetic step", Srinagar-Muzaffarabad cross-Line of Control bus service has survived tensions between India and Pakistan including Mumbai terror attacks and numerous ceasefire violations along the border to complete 10 years of its operation on Tuesday.
A quintessential military commander, Gen Bipin Rawat possessed an uncanny understanding of geopolitical upheavals, calibrated a tri-services military doctrine to make India face myriad security challenges, and is largely credited with bringing down militancy in the Northeast and Jammu and Kashmir.
General officer Commanding (GoC) of the Srinagar-based 15 Corps Lieutenant General D P Pandey said terrorists across the border will try to make last-ditch efforts to infiltrate into the Indian side before the onset of winter.
Director General of Police S P Vaid said that Burhan Wani's successor Sabzar Ahmad Bhat is among the two terrorists killed in the encounter in Soimoh area of Tral on Saturday morning.
The strikes by India have instilled confidence among soldiers and the common man, says martyred soldier Hemraj's widow.
Khan's letter was in reply to Prime Minister Modi's letter to him last week to extend greetings on the occasion of Pakistan Day. In his letter, Modi had said that India desires cordial relations with Pakistan but an atmosphere of trust, devoid of terror and hostility, is "imperative" for it.
The field intelligence units of the Army coupled with inputs comprising HUMINT (human intelligence) and TECHINT (technical intelligence) indicate that around 300 terrorists, mainly of the banned Hizbul Mujahideen and Lashker-e-Taiba (LeT), are waiting across the border to sneak in, officials said, citing reports from Srinagar collated in the national capital.
Accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party of playing politics over providing relief to flood victims of Jammu and Kashmir, Congress party President Sonia Gandhi on Friday said the ruling party at the Centre promised the sky but did not follow it up with action.
The authorisation to increase the weapon and ammunition reserves to minimum 15-I levels from the earlier existing 10-day stocking is to prepare the defence forces for a two-front war with both China and Pakistan.
Four other associates of Sajjad were killed in a two-day long operation after the army intercepted them while they were trying to sneak in.
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