Two members of the Village Defense Committee (VDC) were abducted and killed by terrorists in a forest area in J&K’s Kishtwar district on Thursday, news agency IANS quoted officials as saying. “Two VDC members, namely Nazir Ahmad and Kuldeep Kumar, were abducted and killed by terrorists from forest areas in Kishtwar district .
The VDC was set up by the J&K Police to prepare locals in remote areas to protect their families from terrorist attacks. Initially, VDC members were issued .303 rifles, but these have now been replaced with automatic weapons to better equip villagers to fight terrorists. In remote areas like Poonch, Rajouri, Kishtwar, Doda, Kathua and Udhampur, terrorists consider VDC members as the eyes and ears of the security forces.
Therefore, VDC members often become the first victims of terrorists. A group of foreign mercenaries are reportedly operating in the hilly areas of these areas and are responsible for several attacks and ambushes in these areas. To counter the hit-and-run tactics of terrorists, more than 4,000 well-trained paratroopers and mountain combatants have been deployed in the forests of these areas.
Terrorists in the mountainous areas of these areas are known to often carry out clandestine attacks, and intelligence agencies believe that logistical support is provided to these terrorists by on-the-ground workers (OGWs) of various terror groups. Intelligence agencies believe the ability of hidden terrorists to carry out ambush attacks has been significantly reduced after security forces reviewed and revised counter-terrorism strategies.
