The 750-km-long Line of Control (LOC) in Jammu and Kashmir may be silent for the last more than three months due to the ongoing ceasefire between India and Pakistan but the security forces are hunting for nearly 100 foreign militants who are lying low to avoid the dragnet and planning to launch major attacks in the Union Territory.
Coupled with this, militants have started moving from one terrorist camp to another across the LOC indicating the Pakistan Army and the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) are getting active again. There are more than 40 terror camps located close to the border in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK).
Flagging these two developments, sources in the security establishment said here on Wednesday that the recent activities in the terrorist camps indicate that despite the ceasefire, the terrorist infrastructure is intact.
India and Pakistan mutually agreed to observe ceasefire on the LOC on February 25 and both sides have not fired a single shot since then. Moreover, no infiltration bids from across the LOC were detected so far, they said.
Earlier, the summer months used to be the busiest for security forces as militants lodged in the launch pads tried to sneak into Kashmir after the mountain passes opened up due to the melting of snow. The Pakistan Army provided covering fire to the militants to enable them to infiltrate.
Sources said the highly-trained and battle-hardened foreign militants are now hiding in North Kashmir. Intelligence about them has dried up as they are refraining from moving about to avoid any leak or detection.
In all, there are more than 230 militants including foreigners now present in Kashmir. The anti-insurgency grid including the army, Central Reserve Police Force(CRPF)and the local police is spreading its net to neutralize the foreign ultras.
The focus of the drive is in South and North Kashmir.
As regards activities in terrorist camps in POK, officials said reports from across the LOC in Poonch sector indicate the ultras have resumed weapons and basic infantry field craft training. It had stopped for some weeks after the ceasefire and its resumption is a matter of concern, they said.
Besides these developments, the law and order machinery is also keeping a close watch on the trend of locals joining the terrorist ‘tanzeems(organisations).’ So far, 50 to 55 youth have jumped the fence this year, sources said.
Though this figure is the lowest as compared to last two to three years, officials said more efforts are required to wean away the young men from the path of violence. The highest figure of 214 was noticed in 2018 while 140 local youth joined militant ranks in 2019 and more than 130 last year.
Agreeing to adhere to the ceasefire announced by then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 2003, a joint statement issued by both the countries on February 25 said the two armies will observe all agreements on ceasefire along the 750-km long LOC and other sectors, according to a joint statement issued on Thursday.
There were 5,133 ceasefire violations last year in which 22 civilians were killed and 71 injured on the Indian side. Moreover, 24 security personnel were also killed in the firing while 126 were wounded. Moreover, nearly 300 incidents of ceasefire violation were recorded till January end this year.