After more than 50 bravehearts have been martyred in the ongoing counter-terrorism operations in the Jammu region since October 2021, the top brass of the Indian army led by Army Chief General Upendra Dwivedi on Saturday landed in Jammu to fine-tune its counter strategy aimed at flushing out well-entrenched Pakistani terrorists from the ‘Jammu Heights’.
The crucial security review meeting was convened here at the Police headquarters. Director General Border Security Force, DG CRPF, DGP Jammu and Kashmir police, representatives of the Union Defence and Home Ministry, and top brass of the Intelligence agencies attended the brainstorming session over two hours.
The Army Chief also interacted with the top commanders of the Northern Command headquarters to discuss possible strategic responses and measures to counter the rising threats in the Jammu region.
The high-level security review meeting assumes added significance as it comes close on the heels of the recent meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Thursday.
The meeting took place amid a sudden surge in terror attacks in the Jammu region. Last month the Prime Minister had separately chaired a review meeting to assess the security situation in J&K.
Sensing the gravity of the prevailing security situation and to plug the gaps, the Indian Army has already inducted more than 3,000 troops comprising three infantry battalions in the Jammu region to take on the Pakistani terrorists. In addition around 400-500 elite para commandos have been deployed at various locations to minimise the response time in case of any exigency.
Ever since troops belonging to the Uniform Force were shifted to eastern Ladakh to tackle the threat posed by the Chinese incursions there in May 2020 the Pakistani handlers were exploiting these gaps to push small groups of heavily armed terrorists inside the Indian territory for a long time.
This was the second visit of the army chief to Jammu in less than three weeks after taking charge as the 30th chief of the Indian Army on June 30. Nine army personnel, including a captain, have been ‘killed in action’ in two separate terror attacks in remote forest belts of Machhedi in Kathua and Dessa forest in Doda on July 8 and July 15.
On July 16, the army said all formations of the Udhampur-based northern command are committed to eliminating the scourge of terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir.
The army said it has been conducting a series of joint and coordinated operations with J-K Police to eliminate foreign terrorists who have infiltrated from across the border and are moving in the upper reaches of Udhampur, Doda, and Kishtwar districts in Jammu region and thereafter to Kashmir.
According to the assessment of the security forces, the Pakistani terrorists behind the attacks are believed to be battle-hardened in Afghanistan and belong to the Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorist outfit.
These terrorists, armed with modern weapons like American M4 Assault rifles, telescopic lenses, night vision devices, steel core bullets, and highly encrypted communication equipment, executed the attacks after carefully studying the pattern of the army’s movement in the area and returning to their safe hideouts with the help of their local guides. These terrorists have divided themselves into small groups of 4 to 5 members and at least over 50 Pakistani terrorists are active across the Jammu region. In November 2023 the then Northern Army Commander Lt General Upendra Dwivedi had said at least 20 to 25 terrorists were operating in twin districts of Rajouri-Poonch. He said it would take the army at least a year to root out the terrorism from the region. Similarly, over 20 terrorists are active across the Doda region, and a few groups in the upper reaches of the Kathua and Reasi districts of Jammu.
