Won’t allow al-Qaida foothold in Kashmir: Army

Maintaining that situation in Kashmir is stable and peaceful, army on Thursday said it will not allow international terror group al-Qaida to establish its foothold in the Valley. Lt General Om Prakash, General Officer Commanding (GOC) of Army’s Srinagar based 15 Corps, said this while reacting to media reports which had quoted al-Qaida’s Pakistan commander Farman Ali Shinwari as saying that in the case of war in Kashmir, the militant group will fight the Indian forces. ‘No al-Qaida will come here, we assure you that. Until our security forces are here, we will not allow them to be here,’ the GOC told reporters at a function here.