From night operations to dominating higher ground – with exactly three months having passed since the Pahalgam terror attack, the Army is working overtime to ensure terrorists don’t get a moment to settle in dense forests and mountain ranges of Jammu and Kashmir, top officers have told The Indian Express.
Earlier, top Army sources said, operations would often be suspended following sunset and would resume at dawn. However, the shift to more night operations is intended to ensure that terrorists can neither rest at one place nor move around easily in the dark.
On June 26, search operations during the night led a joint party of the police and security forces to establish contact with a group of terrorists in Basantgarh area of Udhampur, resulting in the killing of a top terrorist commander of the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad. Identified as Haider, codenamed Maulvi from Pakistan, he was active in the area for the last four years.
Sources also said that security forces have made it a point to occupy the higher ground in the Pir Panjal range. A senior Army officer cited a recent encounter in the Chatroo area of Kishtwar, where a group of terrorists moving upwards towards a ridge was caught off guard by the Army troops, who were already dominating the strategic mountain heights.
The militants, who are believed to have been on the way to the South Kashmir side, on the other side of the ridge, were challenged by the troops and retaliated by hurling a grenade. Two terrorists were killed in the morning of May 22.
“We are tightening the noose,” a senior Army officer said. Pointing out that “the terrorists are finding it increasingly difficult to move”, he said, “We will hunt them down, sooner or later.”
Pointing out that 40-50 terrorists in small groups are believed to be active in areas falling on the South of Pir Panjal range in Jammu province, sources said that over 80 per cent are Pakistani nationals.
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The counter-terror operations, Army sources said, are in progress not only in areas of Rajouri and Poonch districts along the Line of Control, but also in the hinterland areas of Reasi, Doda, Kishtwar, Udhampur and Kathua districts.
