Ceasefire in Jammu and Kashmir to end on Saturday. Full details here

The ceasefire on Security Forces' operations that were implemented in Jammu and Kashmir for the month of Ramzan will end Saturday night at midnight, official sources have confirmed to Republic TV.

The news of the ceasefire ending comes a day after tragic and infuriating events were witnessed in Kashmir, namely the abduction and subsequent killing of Army rifleman Aurangzeb and the cold-blooded murder of Rising Kashmir chief editor Shujaat Bukhari and two of his PSOs.

Also on Thursday, the United Nations had issued its first-ever human rights report on Kashmir and called for an independent inquiry in the state, which India's Ministry of External Affairs lodged a strong protest over. The MEA termed the report "fallacious, tendentious and motivated", adding:

"The report violates India's sovereignty and territorial integrity. The entire state of Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India. Pakistan is in illegal and forcible occupation of a part of the Indian state through aggression".

The report, which is not based on any on-ground assessment but "remote monitoring" using reports and publications, severely waters-down Pakistan's internationally-recognised role in perpetrating terror in other countries from its soil and over a series of shocking omissions and lapses, fails to refer to groups such as the Lashkar-e-Toiba and others as terrorist outfits. Among other things, it also presents a fatally flawed description of the Kargil war.

Pakistan, however, has jumped on the United Nations report and the assassination of Shujaat Bukhari, with claimants to the Pakistani establishment, including the official government as well as the military-terrorist nexus, issuing statements over both matters. As per Republic TV sources, however, Pakistan's ISI may have been behind Bukhari's murder. 

The ceasefire, which was initiated to "help the peace-loving Muslims observe Ramzan in a peaceful environment", appeared to have no effect on terrorists and Pak-proxies in the Valley. Speaking to Republic TV after the news of the ceasefire ending broke, Kavinder Gupta, the deputy CM of J&K said that terrorists will be hunted down and eliminated, and that operations will be relaunched in full force.

Here is Home Minister Rajnath Singh's Twitter announcement of the ceasefire on May 16:

Republic TV has also been informed that the Home Minister will brief PM Modi on the situation in Kashmir at 7:30 pm on Friday. The NSA and the Chief of Army Staff will also be present.

The Amarnath Yatra, which the terrorists had shamefully targeted last year, will start on June 28.