Collateral damage minimised to nil
The synergy between the security forces in Jammu & Kashmir is at an all-time high. This is resulting in reduction of reaction time in carrying out anti-terrorist operations and ensuring that there is no collateral damage.
The biggest example of the co-ordination is the neutralisation of top militant Zakir Musa on May 23 when the response time of the security forces after getting the tip-off was less than 30 minutes. The success rate against the terrorists too has increased with 23 ultras neutralised in 13 encounters in June alone thereby proving the effectiveness of these measures.
Also, with a view to cause minimum trouble to the locals, the fire services has been co-opted to douse fire in the houses damaged during the fire fight. In fact, to ensure that ordinary citizens are not inconvenienced during the operation, the local commanders have ordered the ground troops to desist from cordoning the hamlet where the terrorist or terrorists are hiding. “This may result in the terrorists escaping but the security forces are determined to ensure that innocents are not harmed during the firefight or when they are closing in on to the targeted hiding place,” officials in the security establishment said.
Elaborating upon these standard operating procedures now in force, officials said this has come about due to perfect synergy between the Army, Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), the local police and intelligence agencies.
On the response time, they said vastly improved coordination between all the stakeholders in the counter-insurgency grid has seen anti-terrorist operations launched only on the basis of hard and real time intelligence.
They said most of the operations at an average are now completed within three to four hours from getting the real time intelligence unlike in the past when it used to take much longer, thereby, raising the risk of collateral damage and local populace being put to hardship.
“The best example of this is the neutralisation of Zakir Musa, the most wanted terrorist and Burhan Wani’s successor in an encounter on May 23 night in Pulwama district. The entire grid including the Army, CRPF and local police were in place around Musa’s hideout within 30 minutes of receiving the tip-off,” they pointed out.
Hiding in the staircase of the house, Musa was killed in the firefight after he refused to surrender and retaliated by opening fire on the security forces. He was carrying rocket, grenade launcher, projectiles, huge ammunition and war like stores. Highlighting the issue of response time in Musa encounter, officials said the entire machinery moved in tandem and information was shared between the commanders at ‘need-to-know-basis’ to prevent leakage.
The security forces are now desisting from cordoning the entire village and asking the inhabitants to come out which many a times led to protests. The orders now clearly stipulate that the particular house where the terrorists are hiding will only be targeted and operations in built up areas in thickly populated localities have to be short, swift and to be conducted by small teams to retain the element of surprise, they said.
The fire services also now form an integral part of the counter-militant operations and quickly move in to extinguish the fire caused by fire fight in the targeted house and prevent the blaze from spreading to the adjacent buildings. In many cases the police and fire officers have rescued old men and women besides children from the burning building where the terrorists were holed up and managed to reduce the extent of damage caused due to fire, they said.
Given better co-ordination across the board in the counter-insurgency grid, security forces have in this year so far have accounted for 120 terrorists including two dozen foreign terrorists in different operations in the Kashmir Valley this year.