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Updated: Jan 17, 2019 18:41 IST

Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister and National Conference (NC) vice-president Omar Abdullah on Thursday lashed out at the Northern Command Chief Lt General Ranbir Singh, on his “great year for security forces” remark.

Taking to Twitter, Abdullah wrote, the compulsion of killing militants/terrorists shouldn’t be treated as a cause for celebration.

“I beg to differ, a great year would be one in which no young man would join militancy, no terrorists would be killed & no security personnel would lose their lives in encounters. The compulsion of killing militants/terrorists shouldn’t be treated as a cause for celebration,” Abdullah wrote.

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Abdullah was reacting to a statement by Gen Singh on the sidelines of the inauguration of the Kalai bridge in Poonch district. Gen Singh said 2018 had been a great year for the security forces as they had managed to kill 250 terrorists.

I beg to differ, a great year would be one in which no young man would join militancy, no terrorists would be killed & no security personnel would lose their lives in encounters. The compulsion of killing militants/terrorists shouldn’t be treated as a cause for celebration. https://t.co/PPNGWmrCBy — Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) January 17, 2019

“2018 has been a great year for the security forces, more than 250 terrorists were killed, 54 were caught alive, and 4 surrendered to the forces,” he said.

When asked about the increased ceasefire violations by Pakistan’s army, Gen Singh said, “We are one step ahead of Pakistan and are giving befitting reply to them.”

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In the past 48 hours, the security forces have killed at least five Pakistani Army personnel and injured three others in heavy retaliatory firing by Indian troops across the Line of Control in the Poonch sector.

Pakistan has been violating the ceasefire agreement almost on a daily basis since January 1, this year.

On Tuesday, a BSF assistant commander was killed in sniper firing in Kathua district’s Hiranagar sector.

A soldier and a porter were killed in Nowshera and Sunderbani sectors of Rajouri district last Friday.