Watch: Indian Army gives arms training to Kashmiri villagers

Indian Army has started organising workshops for weapon training as hundreds of ex-servicemen acting as Village Defence Guards (VDGs) are being equipped with automatic weapons for the first time since the creation of Village Defence Committees (VDCs) in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pir Panjal and Chenab mountain ranges. 

As reported by IndiaNarrative.com, Home Minister Amit Shah has assured that the VDCs in Jammu would be refurbished to ensure the protection of the minority communities. While Self Loading Rifles (SLRs) were being provided to the trained ex-servicemen, other VDGs would be trained in the use of the automatic weapons by the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).

The development comes after the twin terror attacks which killed seven members of the minority Hindu community and left 11 more injured at the beginning of the new year. The selective target killings on January 1 and 2 took place at Rajouri’s Dhangri village after a long pause but just days after a grenade attack and the killing of four Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorists in a chance encounter on the Sidhra outskirts of Jammu city.