The All Parties Hurriyat Conference has said that Indian forces, including army and paramilitary personnel, are deliberately setting forests on fire, destroying water resources and chopping fruit trees in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir.

APHC spokesman Advocate Abdul Rashid Minhas, in a statement said that Indian troops use explosives to ignite forest fires, aiming to establish military camps and firing ranges in the ecologically sensitive areas of the territory.

The statement deplored the involvement of the Indian Army in deliberate acts of environmental destruction.

Meanwhile, Indian troops during a cordon and search operation arrested two youth in Bandipora district of Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir.