The Balakot air strikes notwithstanding, over three dozen terror camps along the Line of Control (LoC) in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK) are getting active again. Post-Pulwama attack, these camps were shifted deep inside Pakistan fearing retaliation by India. However, after lying dormant for nearly three months, the ISI and the Pakistan Army are bringing these terrorists closer to the LoC to enable them to infiltrate to stoke violence in Jammu & Kashmir.
This alarming development comes even as Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) chief Masood Azhar was recently proscribed as a global terrorist by the UN Security Council. Most of the terrorists now regrouping in the camps are from JeM and Lashkar-e-Tayyeba (LeT). The Indian Army has thus increased vigil to thwart any Border Action Team (BAT) action besides infiltration.
Mixed teams of terrorists and elite Special Services Group (SSG) commandos of the Pakistan Army comprise BAT which carries out cross border raids to ambush Indian Army patrols. As it is, the several teams of SSG commandos, along with the Pakistan Army troops, moved forward towards the LoC post Balakot air strikes by the IAF and remain deployed even now thereby increasing the threat perception, officials in the security establishment said here on Monday.
Indicating that after the Balakot strikes, in which the JeM major camps were targeted and destroyed, notwithstanding, the State sponsored terrorism machinery of Pakistan is now active again with the terror camps along the LoC reorganising themselves, they said.
Most of the 40 odd camps along the vulnerable stretches of the 750-km long LoC are located not more than one to two kms from the border and stationed close to the Pakistan Army and the Pakistan Rangers locations.
Following the Pulwama suicide attack on February 13 in which 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were killed, nearly all the terror camps were shut down as the Pakistan Army anticipated surgical strikes. In fact, many terrorists took refuge in the JeM camp in Balakot.
With the three dozen odd camps now regrouping, the Indian security establishment is bracing for renewed bids to sneak into Jammu & Kashmir in the following weeks with the Pakistan Army providing covering fire to the terrorists.
Due to prolonged winter this year and heavy snowfall, most of the ingress routes especially in North Kashmir remained blocked due to snow till about a few days back.
As snow is now melting, the LoC is likely to see increased infiltration bids, officials said, adding the Indian Army has taken all necessary measures to prevent any misdeed by the Pakistani terrorists. In fact, during the winter months, troops were not withdrawn from the LoC, as in the past few years, as a precautionary measure, they said.
Taking note of the terror camps across LoC getting active, the Army has increased patrols all along the LoC besides further strengthening its multi-tiered anti-infiltration grid. The main objective is to neutralise the infiltrators within a km or so near the LoC if they are successful in coming in, officials explained.