Alongside violent street protests by people in and around Srinagar for more than two months, Kashmir Valley is also witnessing an unprecedented surge in infiltration by Pakistan-sponsored terrorists from across the line of Control (loC). As many as 75 successful infiltration attempts took place till last month against 30 for the entire last year. More infiltration bids could take place in the coming weeks as Pakistan might push in more terrorists to sustain militancy and increase the level of violence.
Against this backdrop, Army chief General Dalbir Singh Suhag met Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday and briefed him on the situation on the loC and the security situation within the State. Suhag also listed out the steps taken by the Army to check infiltration and bring down levels of militancy-related violence.
Battling with the alarming trend of rising infiltration, security forces have managed to kill nearly 110 militants from January till mid-August this year as compared to 50-odd ultras eliminated in the last year. Nearly 50 terrorists were killed while trying to cross the loC or near it this year while the remaining were tracked down in the hinterland.
Officials said besides aggressive backing by the ISI and the Pakistan Army to infiltrators, less snowfall this year enabled militants to sneak in during January and February.
Generally, the ingress routes in South Kashmir mountain ranges remain blocked till April-end due to heavy snow. Infiltration figures for this period were nil for the last two or three years. However, this year the first two months recorded more than 25 successful infiltrations, putting pressure on the Army to tighten its anti-infiltration grid, admitted officials.
With protests breaking out after the killing of militant leader Burhan Wani in July and curfew being imposed in several towns of South Kashmir including Kupwara, Sopore and Anantnag, the counter-insurgency grid also suffered due to restriction of movement, they said.
Elaborating upon this factor, sources said due to pressure from the security forces militants can’t stay at one place for more than one night. The curfew came as a blessing for the terrorists as they could hide safely for days together. Real-time Intelligence about their location was difficult to come by as the police were busy quelling protests, they said.
In this backdrop, the Army top brass has instructed operational commanders to step up counter-infiltration and anti-militancy measures. These include more aggressive area domination patrols three to four kms along the loC, to plug any loopholes. The coming days may also see this exercise at the outskirts of some major towns now hit by violent protests.
Protestors have forced the local police to shift from their official buildings in some towns leaving a vacuum and giving a free run to troublemakers. In the last few days, mischief-mongers set fire to some Government buildings besides vacant security pickets. The Army, CRPF and BSF are likely to conduct area domination patrols in some of the affected places to reestablish the writ of the Government and give a sense of security to law abiding citizens, they said.