The two prominent trade routes of Uri-Muzaffarabad and Poonch-Rawalakote in Kashmir and Jammu regions respectively are emerging as new ‘hot spots’ for the export of terror from Pakistan to India. Proximity of these trade routes to Indian Army’s brigade headquarters in Uri and Poonch might have been exploited by the masterminds.
Targeting security forces is a clear attempt to keep the “terror pot” boiling and extend the “arc of terror” in both the sensitive regions of the troubled-torn State. In both the cases, these fidayeen groups managed to launch their strike without facing any resistance despite the strong presence of security forces along the route.
In Poonch, the fidayeen group could not target Brigade headquarters on September 11, 2016 but managed to engage security forces for almost 60 hours before they were neutralised. The encounter site in Poonch was a few steps away from the Brigade headquarters. The suicide squad of lashkar-e-Tayyeba (leT) is believed to have carried out that strike.
In case of Uri, highly motivated cadre of Maulana Masood Azhar’s Jaish-e- Mohammad (JeM) was pushed inside the Indian territory to carry out the strike.
From time to time the three layer security grid has been strengthened, following fresh intelligence reports about possibility of similar strikes. But in both the cases, these fidayeen groups remain undetected till they hit their targets. The fidayeen groups may have extended ground support but so far the security forces have failed to track down their conduits at the local level.
The ongoing cycle of violence triggered in the aftermath of killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani has already given an upper hand to militant groups to consolidate their defences and reach safe havens. The security forces’ convoys, especially those of the Army, have been directed to avoid confrontation with the civilian population. This has been exploited by the fresh cadre and infiltrators to fortify their defences.
The increasing number of strikes on security forces, especially in South Kashmir districts of Shopian, Pulwama, Anantnag and Kulgam, have forced senior Army authorities to rush additional troops to the Kashmir valley.
Both the groups carried huge cache of arms and ammunition along with under barrel grenade launchers (UBGl) and rifle grenades to inflict maximum damage to the security forces and prolong the gunfight to attract media attention at the International level.
The timing of these militant strikes also raises question marks over the real intention of their Pak handlers. It seems that Pakistan wants to provoke strong Indian retaliation to once again internationalise the Kashmir issue.
In the past also, the two trade routes have been used as take-off points for pushing heavily armed infiltrators into India. In August 2013, a Border Action Team (BAT) aided by Pakistan Army regulars had ambushed an Indian Army patrol near Chakan-da-bagh in Poonch killing 5 Army jawans.