With two terrorist attacks in the last one week in Tangdhar and Kupwara region of South Kashmir, the security forces are now looking for a group of 10 to 15 heavily- armed militants, who have infiltrated into this region. These militants, who are believed to be well-trained fighters of Jaish-e-Mohammad outfit, have so far evaded the dragnet by using forests and gorges as their hideouts. Three Armymen and three terrorists have so far been killed in the two encounters in Tangdhar.
Similar reports of infiltration have come from adjacent Uri sector. The security forces have intercepted radio traffic between terrorists, who have managed to sneak from across the line of Control (loC), and their handlers in launch pads located in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). In fact, communication between them has increased over the last few days. Efforts are on to zero in on the hideouts and neutralise the militants. Given this situation, operational commanders are a worried lot as they realise if the militants are not traced, they will try to enter heavily populated towns in South Kashmir, including Baramulla, Sopore and even Srinagar and carry 'fidayeen' attacks.
In fact, the heavily-armed militants had tried to attack the Brigade Headquarters in Tangdhar on Sunday morning but the Army managed to kill three terrorists. However, some of their other associates managed to escape and are expected to target Army camps in this sector. Tangdhar, Kupwara and Uri sectors are known hotbeds of terrorists given the rugged terrain comprising dense forests and gorges at heights of more than 12,000 feet. It is extremely difficult to patrol these areas and many parts in these sectors also do not have anti-infiltration fence due to geographical limitations. Militants infiltrate into these sectors once snow melts thereby making the ingress routes accessible.
With the onset of tourist season earlier this month and visitors thronging to Srinagar and other places in the coming days, security forces including the Army, Central Reserve Police Force(CRPF) and State police are racing against time to thwart any attempt by these militants to shatter hard earned peace, officials said in New Delhi and Jammu.
Apprehending a "hot summer" this year in terms of infiltration bids and levels of violence, they said the focus of militants will be towns in the Kashmir valley, which draw maximum tourists. Moreover, militants will try to take advantage of politically volatile situation now prevailing there with rallies by separatists and incidents like attack on cell phone operating companies, they said. As regards infiltration bids, officials said so far a few attempts were made in the last fortnight in the upper reaches of Kashmir and the Army successfully foiled them. However, militants will step up infiltration in the coming days as all the ingress routes are now open.
Coupled with this, the growing phenomenon of local youth joining terrorist ranks in the past few months is another matter of concern for the State administration and security forces. local recruitment had seen a downward trend till 2013 but has picked up again with more than 100 highly-educated young men picking up the gun. Reports indicated that at least 20 youths from Sopore and Baramulla had joined militant ranks in the last few weeks and officials said the recent incidents of weapon snatching from security personnel were carried out by these youths.
Not highly-trained like their fellow militants who infiltrate from across the loC, these local youths were also behind the killing of three unarmed policemen last month, they said. Security forces had managed to neutralise nearly 30 of them in the in November and December last year but the numbers had again swelled.
Meanwhile, the PDP-BJP alliance State Government will face its toughest challenge of conducting an incident free Amarnath yatra beginning July 2. The State police chief and senior Army commanders of 15 and 16 Corps are holding regular review meetings to plug any gaps in the security umbrella provided to the pilgrims during the month-long yatra.
Officials said the emphasis is largely on gathering real time Intelligence to foil any terrorist strike and synergising operational capabilities of all the stakeholders, including the Army, State police and CRPF to minimise collateral damage. As regards situation in South of Pir Pangal mountain region comprising Jammu division, they said security scenario is relatively calm. But senior Army and Border Security Force (BSF) officers are anticipating rise in number of infiltration bids in this region in the coming days.
The series of fidayeen attacks on police stations and Army camps along Jammu-Pathankot National Highway in the last few months has already created a piquant situation for the security agencies as they failed to check deep penetration of these fidayeen groups in civilian areas close to the National Highway. In a recent security review meeting Inspector General of Railway security M Suleman Salaria had also warned of militants strikes on railway infrastructure in Jammu region.