After bidding ‘ceremonial’ farewell to Krishna Ghati martyrs, top Amary commanders in Poonch Tuesday went back to the drawing board to chalk out ‘strategy’ to avenge ‘dastardly act’ of beheading of two Indian jawans.
Throughout the day, senior army officers attended series of meetings and briefed Army headquarters about the prevailing security situation along the line of control.
Senior Brigade commanders and commanding officers of various units attended these meetings inside operations room in Bhimger Gali and Krishna Ghati sectors of Poonch.
The meetings followed after the Union Government gave army free hand to respond to the ‘gravest’ provocation.
Army chief General Bipin Rawat, who is on a two-day long visit to J&K, also took stock of the situation and interacted with senior commanders in Kashmir valley.
To boost morale of the foot soldiers, the Army chief reaffirmed nations support behind its gallant soldiers.
High alert has been sounded along the forward areas in both the frontier Poonch and Rajouri districts anticipating fresh escalation of tension between the two armies along the line of Control.
Meanwhile, public anger against Pakistan Army’s ‘barbaric’ act spilled on to the streets across several parts of Jammu region including Poonch where protests were held against the Pakistan army.
Angry citizens demanded ‘hard hitting’ response to teach Pakistan a befitting lesson. Fellow soldiers also bid farewell to their colleagues amid patriotic slogan chanting.
In Jammu Additional Director General of BSF (Western Command) Kamal N Choubey described the attack as a “well-coordinated” act as the patrol team came under “simultaneous fire” from four sides.
The BSF also declared that it would brainstorm with the Army, under whose operational command it worked in Kashmir, and come up with “revised Standing Operating Procedures (SOPs)” to ensure that such incidents were minimised.
Interacting with the media after attending a wreath laying ceremony ADG BSF said, “The patrol team consisting of 6 BSF and 3 army jawans was on regular line maintenance when it came under simultaneous fire from four different sides—two forward defence location (FDl) posts and two ambushes laid in the area. They opened simultaneous fire on our jawans and then came the action of BAT which consists of army regulars, Mujahideen and trained militants. The BAT took the advantage of two ambushes and fired from two FDls, and mutilated the bodies of two soldiers”.
To a query whether the patrol party violated the SOPs, the ADG said the SOP was always followed but the question was of “element of surprise”. “You cannot have a spontaneous development like this where simultaneous fire comes from two distant FDl, and at the same time the fire coming from two ambushes laid in the area. It was a well-coordinated and pre planned attack. Every time we learn from such incidents. The BSF and the army will be brainstorming on such incidents and we will come up with more revised SOPs so that such incidents were minimised,” the BSF officer said.
Commenting on the situation along the International border the BSF officer claimed, the BSF troops are fully alert on the border. He said several launching pads are active along the border and BSF is fully prepared to prevent any infiltration bid from across the border.