To cut down the response time in any adverse situation, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has accorded its formal approval to the proposal of permanently locating a component of the elite National Security Guards (NSG) in Jammu to counter any future terror threat emanating from across the border with Pakistan.

At present NSG is setting up its units in Ayodhya, Pathankot and Kerala and they are expected to be operational soon by the end of this year. In addition, there are five regional hubs of NSG in Mumbai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Chennai and Gandhinagar. These hubs were created after the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack.

The proposal to set up an independent NSG hub in the Jammu region was in the pipeline for a long time, official sources said. According to these official sources, the proposal was mooted ahead of the annual conduct of the Amarnath yatra during one of the security review meetings with the officials of the Ministry of Home Affairs last year.

While discussing the spike in terror attacks in the region a suggestion was made to permanently deploy a component of the NSG in Jammu city to avoid unwarranted delay in rushing elite NSG commandos, especially in case of any hostage crisis.

The NSG commandos, inducted during anti-terror operations on several occasions in the past, returned to their base in Gurgaon. This time the final approval has come in the wake of the recent spike in terror attacks in the region.

Last month, the NSG team was deployed in the Akhnoor area where a group of Pakistani terrorists were holed up inside a religious place. Anticipating a hostage crisis in the built-up area the NSG teams were rushed to the encounter site to neutralize them to prevent any collateral damage. According to official sources, the Jammu and Kashmir police have also reviewed its anti-terror plan on the advice of the Union Home Ministry.

A fresh security audit of the vital installations, high-value targets, and sensitive places was done recently where the requirement of the NSG team was projected as part of a back-up plan by the police authorities. The teams of the Special Operations Group of Jammu and Kashmir police and the NSG will work in close coordination to neutralise the terrorists during anti-terror operations.

According to a recent assessment of the intelligence agencies, eight out of 10 districts of the Jammu region witnessed targeted attacks on the security forces this year in which 45 people have been killed, including 18 security personnel, 14 civilians, and 13 terrorists. Security forces continue to carry out massive search operations to track down the footprints of foreign terrorists behind these lethal attacks on security personnel and civilians.