SRI NAGAR: In an unprecedented security measure, the Jammu and Kashmir government has suspended the ongoing Amarnath yatra and ordered yatris and tourists to leave the Valley immediately. The security advisory was issued soon after the Army revealed that security forces had foiled attempts by Pakistan-backed terrorists to disrupt the yatra.
Lt Gen KJS Dhillon, General Officer Commanding (GOC) of Srinagar-based Army’s 15 Corps, said the weapons seized during search operations clearly show that Islamabad is backing terror in the Valley.
Addressing a joint press conference with J&K police chief Dilbagh Singh, Lt Gen Dhillon said a thorough anti-terror operation was launched on both routes to the Amarnath cave in South Kashmir after specific intelligence inputs in the past three-four days that terrorists backed by Pakistan and its army were planning to attack the yatris. DGP Singh said searches were still going on in both the routes.
Baseer Ahmad Khan, Divisional Commissioner (Kashmir), confirmed that the yatra has been suspended. The NC and PDP slammed the advisory, saying it will trigger panic. “No elected government in J&K had allowed a situation to develop where the yatra had to be cancelled,” NC chief Omar Abdullah tweeted.
The authorities had already suspended the 45-day yatra, which began on July 1, from August 1 till August 4 citing weather conditions. So far 3,42,883 yatris have had darshan at the cave.