India to redeploy military veterans as security guards in IIOJK after ceasefire

Military veterans will be redeployed as security guards in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), New Delhi said on Saturday, a week after it reached a ceasefire with Pakistan to end their most serious conflict in decades.

Around 70 people were killed in the violence, which was sparked by an attack on tourists by gunmen in IIOJK last month that New Delhi accused Islamabad of backing — a charge it denies.

The government of IIOJK approved a "proposal for mobilising Ex-Servicemen (ESM) to safeguard vital infrastructure across the Union Territory," according to a government press release.

Around 4,000 veterans have been "identified" as non-combatant volunteers, out of which 435 have licensed personal weapons, it said.

This will help by "significantly enhancing the capacity to respond effectively to localised security situations", the government added.

Veterans will work in "static guard" roles, focusing on "presence-based deterrence and local coordination".

India already has an estimated half a million soldiers permanently deployed in the contested region that has been at the heart of several wars between the nuclear-armed neighbours, who administer separate portions of the divided territory.