India has started de-mining operation along the international border in south Kashmir, according to the Press Trust of India (PTI).
The operation, the first phase of a four-phased program which started last Friday, was going on along the border in Jammu area, the agency quoted official sources as saying on Monday.
"The engineers and technical men of army regiment, armed with equipments, have started de-mining process of anti-tank mines and anti-personal mines in its first phase of de-mining along 187 kilometers of the international border in Jammu sector," they said.
"The de-mining process will be complete in a four-phased program that will last over two months," the sources added.
However, De-mining will not take place along the line of control in north part of the disputed Kashmir valley.
The Indian Army had acquired 31,927 hectares of land in Jammu and Kathua districts along the international border with Pakistan for mining and other purposes following the terror attack on Indian parliament last December.
There was no threat to human life while removing anti-tank mines as it needs one ton of force or weight for an explosion, thesources said.
But the anti-personal mines, which needs only 12 to 13 kilograms of weight or force, were "deadly" to mine-removing persons.
As many as 11 people have reportedly been killed and 43 others injured due to mine blasts after the military built-up in Kashmir since last January.