SRINAGAR: Forty-seven militants laid down arms Aug. 26 as the 54-day old hostage crisis continued to elude a solution.
Militancy-related violence claimed 23 lives, including 17 militants, over- night across the Kashmir valley. Eighteen were arrested by the security forces during the period.
An official spokesman said contact between the abductors and the authorities through intermediaries continued and the hostages were reported to be “safe.”
The spokesman skirted questions about the progress of the talks saying, he had no information. “We are making appeals to the abductors to release the hostages.”
“No comment,” he said when a re- porter asked whether the delay in resolving the crisis was because of “deadlock” in the talks. The spokes man said that no deal was being finalized between the authorities and the abductors.
Forty-seven militants surrendered to the Army troops at Pattan on Srinagar- Uri road, a Defence Ministry spokes- man said here.
Of them 30 belonged to the out lawed Hizbul Mujahideen, four to Muslim Mujahideen three each to Ikhwan-ul-Muslimeen and Al-Burq two each to Jammu and Kashmir Lib- eration Front (JKLF), Al-Jehad and Tehreek-ul-Mujahideen and one to Muslim Janbaaz Force, he said. Nine youths who were arrested by the troops while trying to cross over to Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK).
Article extracted from this publication >> September 1, 1995
