Hampered by difficult terrain, intensive hunt for terrorists in Poonch is on

Hampered by difficult terrain, intensive hunt for terrorists in Poonch is on

Hampered by difficult terrain, intensive hunt for terrorists in Poonch is on

It was only to be expected that Pakistan-supported elements of terror would be gearing up for some action, just ahead of the working group meeting of tourism delegates from G20 nations, scheduled to be held in Srinagar from May 22-24.

While the G20 event would be held in Srinagar as per schedule, it also offers an opportunity for the Indian diplomatic and strategic establishment to underline the position that the terror elements derive their moral and material support from Pakistan, and the terror effort in Kashmir is part of Pakistan’s state-sponsored activity that is geared to promote low-intensity conflict.

Intelligence and open sources have from time to time reported the presence of militant launch pads in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir that house hundreds of militants waiting for an opportunity to infiltrate into India—a task that has become more and more difficult by the day due to enhanced surveillance by the Indian security grid.

Such an act by terrorists just before a global event would aim to showcase the military capability of the Kashmir separatist movement, hark the world to heed the call for the secessionist agenda and underline the contested nature of the Kashmir geography, besides underlining that the movement is alive and kicking.

At about 3pm on a dark and rainy Thursday (April 20), terrorists—suspected to be from the fledgling People’s Anti-Fascist Front (PAFF)—armed with grenade launchers ambushed an Army truck on the Bhimber Gali-Surankote highway, just about 8-9km aerial distance away from the Line of Control (LoC) with Pakistan.

In the ill-fated truck, among others, were seated Havildar Mandeep Singh, Lance Naiks Debashish Baswal and Kulwant Singh, and Sepoys Harkishen Singh and Sewak Singh—all part of a Rashtriya Rifles unit on a ‘road opening’ operation. The five died as the truck went up in flames.

Although the PAFF has claimed responsibility for Thursday’s attack, the outfit is known to be another front for the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and was banned by the Union Home Ministry in January 2023.

Headquartered in Pakistan’s Bahawalpur, the JeM was founded by Masood Azhar, who was released by the Indian government giving in to the demands of the hijackers of the Indian Airlines Kathmandu-New Delhi flight IC 814 in December 1999. JeM is also known to undertake joint operations with the Lashkar-e-Toiba.

While Army and security agency teams are on the ground conducting combing operations, what is making the task very difficult is the deeply forested Nar Khas region that stretches till the LoC.

Security officials familiar with the area say the stretch is also known to have many caves where the terrorists can take shelter and remain undetected for long periods without maintaining any visible contact with the locals.

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