Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday said infiltrations by terrorists from across the line of Control (loC) into Jammu & Kashmir declined by 45 per cent after the surgical strikes last year.
However, the security establishment apprehends infiltration attempts are actually all set to begin at full throttle now because compared to 2016, when the major ingress routes were clear by January itself, this year there has been heavy snowfall and a delay in the snow-melting process.
Snow has melted in the lower reaches of North Kashmir but it will only be by June-end that the ingress routes will clear at higher altitude. “And due to the delay in availability of clear ingress routes, terrorists have a shortened window to infiltrate this year. Thus ground reports indicate they will make a determined bid to infiltrate,” sources said.
At least, 200 fully-trained terrorists are waiting to sneak in from launch pads located close to the loC in Pakistan- occupied Kashmir (PoK), sources said. The most infiltration-prone routes are in Keran and Machil sectors.
The Army is working “overtime” to prevent infiltrations by repositioning troops along the loC especially in the higher reaches of North Kashmir and “resuscitating” the anti-infiltration fence damaged due to snow.
Addressing a news conference on the completion of three years of the NDA Government, Singh said the security situation has improved in Kashmir Valley and infiltration declined by 45 per cent (compared to corresponding period in 2016) after India conducted surgical strikes on terrorist training camps in POK in September last year.
He said, “The security situation in Jammu and Kashmir has improved with 368 terrorists neutralised between 2014 and 2017 in Kashmir.” The Government will put an end to Pakistan-sponsored terrorism and ensure peace in Jammu and Kashmir, he asserted.
local Army commanders are boosting the troops’ strength along the lOC and bolstering the multi-layered anti-infiltration grid, sources said on Saturday.
Elaborating upon the concerns over the expected spike in infiltration bids, they said militants are now under pressure to make the best of the shortened window which will end in October when snow will block major ingress routes in the higher reaches.
The situation was somewhat different last year due to scanty snowfall and the first two months alone saw more than 30 infiltration attempts as compared to the same number till now, they said.
Faced with this scenario, the Army, which is in the thick of tackling militancy in the hinterland along with the paramilitary forces and local police, is now gearing up to deny advantage to Pakistan Army and ISI. They will make all efforts to push in as many terrorists as possible in the coming weeks to heighten the levels of violence in South Kashmir after terrorists manage to come in from across the lOC in North Kashmir, they said.
Already, one additional battalion is deployed along the lOC in infiltration prone zones and if need be more troops can be inducted, officials said. The killing of six infiltrators last week in Baramulla in a single encounter is an indicator of things to come as the security forces apprehend that some more militants may have managed to come in from various porous points along the lOC in that sector. Sources also said killing of six infiltrators took place after many years thereby hinting that terrorists are willing to take risks by trying to sneak in big numbers as compared to smaller groups to avoid capture or neutralisation.
Heavy snow compounded the Army’s problems in “resuscitating” or repairing the anti-infiltration fence along the lOC.
Some critical portions of the fence are damaged due to snow and the engineering teams are trying to reach these places to clear snow and repair the fence, they said. “Resuscitation” is an annual feature in parts of South and North Kashmir where the fence is buried under heavy snow.
With Amarnath Yatra scheduled to begin from June 29, the security forces are racing against time to consolidate their domination in areas falling under the Yatra route which pass through the restive South Kashmir. Securing Jammu- Srinagar National Highway, especially beyond Qazikund leading up to different base camps in South Kashmir, is turning out to be a major headache for the security forces on ground zero.
Due to vulnerability of certain patches between Bijbhera and Pampore the senior officers of the security grid have decided to deploy additional troops to physically dominate every inch of the road side in order to prevent attacks on convoys of security forces.
Security forces are well aware of the fact that highly trained foreign militants belonging to lashkar-e-Tayyeba (leT) have carved out safe hideouts in the area to target convoys of security forces.
The security forces are also in the process of finalising deployment pattern of para-military and State police in and around different base camps being set up for Amarnath pilgrims.
The Army will remain deployed in the outer cordon while the paramilitary and the State police would look after the camp security and frisking of pilgrims before gaining entry inside the base camps.