Pak pushing terrorists: Army
Two major suicide
attacks on Army camps within a fortnight in the
Jammu region have come in the wake of recent alarming
intelligence reports of frequent infiltration of
terrorists by Pakistan from the Chamb and Khuiratta
areas in Akhnoor sector.
The Army top brass
is seeing a pattern in the attacks, with terrorists
trying to shift their focus from the Kashmir valley
to Jammu region by trying to score major hits in
the area.
Intelligence reports
said that while there was a brief lull in infiltration
into the Kashmir valley, that in the Jammu region
had been unabated since May. "We have evidence
that a large number of Lashker-e-Taiba and Harkat-ul-Mujahideen
terrorists have come across from the Akhnoor sector,"
top Army officials said.
As the Army has
sent instructions to entire formations in Jammu
and Kashmir to be on full alert against more such
attempts by terrorists, units have been asked to
maintain high vigil and take special measures to
deal with such attacks.
According to militant
intercepts, an estimated 1,500 to 1,800 terrorists
have managed to cross into Jammu region and unlike
in the Kashmir valley, they have been instructed
to indulge in massive violence.
With the Army receiving
sophisticated anti-terrorism gadgets like sensors,
thermal imagers and advanced infantry weapons, the
terrorists are now trying to find gaps in Akhnoor
region to infiltrate.
The reports have
been corroborated by Pakistani media with journalists
after visits to some of the camps saying that infiltration
along Akhnoor, Rajouri and Poonch sector was continuing.
The reports said
that unlike the past pattern, Pakistani intelligence
agencies were now pushing the terrorists in smaller
batches to avoid increased vigilance by Indian army.
As a counter to
such suicide attacks, the Army top brass have told
formations in Jammu and Kashmir to sanitise all
areas in the periphery of all establishments and
to build fortifications including barbed wire around
all locations.
The forces have
also been told to carry out aggressive patrolling
in all areas in the vicinity of the establishments
and to cut the elephant grass, which grow rampant
in monsoons, so that the tall grass could not be
used by terrorists to conceal themselves prior to
undertaking such attacks.
New Delhi, July 22, 2003 (HT)
