Aiming to improve its ties with the civilian population and to further intensify anti-terrorist operations in the frontier Poonch district, the Army authorities have decided to induct a new Rashtriya Rifles unit in the security grid in the region.
According to ground reports, the phased withdrawal of 48 Rashtriya Rifles is currently going on and jawans of the new Rashtriya Rifles are being inducted and likely to take over the command of the existing security camps in the coming days.
Meanwhile, the search and combing operations in the general area were going on to track down the footprints of the hiding foreign terrorists. With the induction of the new Rashtriya Rifles unit in the region, the anti-terrorist operations would be relaunched to flush out the hiding terrorists.
The decision was taken at the highest level in the wake of a surge in the targeted killings of army jawans in the area of operation of 48 Rashtriya Rifles.
The local commanders and the top brass of the Northern Command had briefed Army Chief General Manoj Pande during his visit to the forward posts in the Dera ki Gali area of Poonch.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh was also briefed by the senior commanders after making a fresh assessment of the prevailing security scenario in the areas south of Pir Panjal.
Three senior officers including the Brigade Commander of the 13 Sector Rashtriya Rifles, were earlier attached pending a formal Court of Inquiry into the recovery of three civilian dead bodies under mysterious circumstances in the Surankote area of Poonch on December 22, 2023.
Four soldiers were 'killed in action' during the ambush of two army vehicles by foreign terrorists on December 21 in the Dera Ki Gali area of Surankote.
In Jammu, Director General of the Border Security Force (BSF) Nitin Agrawal Wednesday reviewed the security situation and operational preparedness of the troops guarding the border with Pakistan on the Jammu frontier.
Agrawal, who visited areas located close to the International Border (IB), also called on Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha at the Raj Bhavan here and briefed him about the security situation along the border.
According to a Public Relations Officer of the BSF, Jammu Frontier, "The DG reviewed the security situation and the operational preparedness of the troops with senior BSF officials".
Agrawal is currently on a two day visit to the Jammu region.
D K Boora, Inspector General, BSF, Jammu frontier, briefed Agrawal about the security situation here.