Solar missiles aimed at Sector Hqs seized in Kupwara
Militants acquire capability to shoot down flying helicopters in Kashmir

Ahmed Ali Fayyaz

SRINAGAR, Jun 2: In a remarkable achievement, Police today claimed to have seized two solar missiles which had been planted by militants and aimed at Army’s Sector-8 headquarters and Rashtriya Rifles 41 Bn headquarters in Kupwara district. According to officials, militants have for the first time acquired the capability of shooting down helicopters in Kashmir valley.

Superintendent of Police, Kupwara, Mohammad Yusuf Mir, told Early Times that Police conducted a raid on the basis of a specific information at Gujjarpatti in Shumriyal forest cover in Lolab valley of Kupwara district and seized two solar battery operated missiles that had been planted by militants on fallen Deodar trees. While one of the missiles was found aimed at Army’s Sector-8 headquarters, another had been set in the direction of headquarters of RR 41 Bn, both situated at Khumriyal. He said that according to the tip off, both these missiles had been acquired and planted by well-trained militants of Lashkar-e-Tayyiba with the obvious intention of causing damage to the key military installations in the border district of Kupwara.

“Due to our good luck, both the missiles were detected before these would ignite with solar batteries and cause any damage. Militants seem to have successfully planted the missiles but the nature was on our side as neither of the two went off due to cloudy weather and rains in the area”, SP Kupwara said. He said that Police and security forces had launched a search to find whether any more of such missiles were there in the militants’ arsenal.

SP Kupwara claimed that such type of firearms had been seized for the first time in 21 years of armed insurgency in Jammu & Kashmir and these had the potential of even shooting down flying helicopters if aimed with precision. He said that the missiles, each 4-ft long and weighing 4 to 5 Kg, were high caliber firearms and as easy to carry as an AK-47 rifle. He said that these missiles could be fired on target from a distance of 3 to 4 Kms. However, no such missile had been ever fired successfully or unsuccessfully in the state, particularly in Kashmir valley since the outbreak of armed insurgency in 1989.

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