Troops in North Kashmir’s Keran Sector along the line of Control (loC) are battling an incursion-like situation, but the Army says that they have encircled a huge group of infiltrators and blocked their ingress into the State.
Initial reports said that 30 to 40 infiltrators have sneaked into the sensitive sector, 130 kilometres from Srinagar. Five Indian soldiers have been wounded in the operation so far. General Officer Commanding of Srinagar-based 15 Corps, lieutenant- General Gurmeet Singh said the troops were confronting a massive infiltration and the style of fighting of the infiltrators indicated that they were highly trained and enjoy the backing of special troops.
Defense sources said in a most audacious attempt a large number of infiltrators are caught between the loC and razor wire fencing known as Anti-Insurgency Obstacle System in a vast stretch in Keran Sector since September 24. There have been several skirmishes between the Army and the infiltrators.
last week the Army said troops fighting in the area have spotted at least 12 bodies, but none of them were retrieved from the rugged terrain. Even though lt-Gen Singh refused to divulge exact details of the operation, he maintained that the Army was in full control of the situation. “It will be premature at this stage for me to comment in specific terms where the operation is going on. But their methodology which is action-cum-infiltration, indicates there are special troops behind this massive infiltration,” Singh said at a Press conference at the 15 Corps headquarters.
Describing the infiltration as “extra-ordinary,” he said the ingress was different from earlier attempts and involved the backing of special troops. In New Delhi, Army sources said 30 to 40 militants sneaked into Keran Sector of Kupwara on September 24-25 night and were intercepted about 300 to 400 meters inside Indian territory. A gun battle ensued between the militants and the Army as the ultras tried to push forward from at least five places in an arc of four to five km, officials said on Wednesday.
Incidentally, it was the first day of a new battalion manning the Keran Sector after the previous battalion was posted out to a peace station. Explaining the significance of this, they said the Pakistan Army and ISI were carefully monitoring the Indian Army’s movements and decided to sneak in on the day when the new battalion was settling in.
However, the Corps Commander said that exchange of troops was a routine and continuous process and does not correspond to lowering of guard in the area. Denying that the infiltration was like an incursion, as some media reports likened it with the Kargil situation of 1999, Singh said the Army had prior information about the infiltration and the troops were prepared to counter it. “The militants or Pakistan Army have not occupied any village or any picket of the Indian Army. Any violation of territorial integrity will never be accepted by us,” Singh said.
He emphasized that the troops were in full control of the area that has been cordoned off. He said that on Tuesday a group of 10-12 militants attempted to infiltrate the cordoned area but they were engaged in an exchange of fire by the troops. Singh remained non-committal on reports that infiltrators have occupied a deserted village. Reports said the militants were holed up in abandoned huts and ruins in Shalbatoo Village, which had been abandoned in the early 1990s. Several villages in Keran Sector have either been evacuated by the Indian Army or the residents have fled to the other side of the loC.
Singh said the Army was following a proper synergy to flush out the infiltrators and there was no hurry. “The remaining militants are still holed up. We are beginning the last phase of the operation but will never try to hurry,” he said.
Responding to a query Singh denied the Army was seeking any help from the Indian Air Force (IAF). “It is absurd. We have not sought the help of the IAF. Have faith in us and we will eliminate all these militants,” he said. He said the operation has entered the last phase and they have recovered war like stores from the area. “It is important for the area to be cleared. We have recovered a large quantity of arms and ammunition. Some of the weapons are made in Pakistan,” he said.
Significantly, Intelligence reports indicated that the strength of militants in launch pads in Kikel and other villages in Neelam Valley in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK) opposite Keran Sector had increased in the last few weeks. It led to unrest amongst the locals in POK and they staged a protest on September 22 and 30 as any firing by Pakistani troops would invite retaliatory fire from the Indian Army leading to collateral damage.