The Doda encounter, the newest in a collection of worrying assaults wherein a number of troopers have been killed, has put the highlight on the resurgence of terror within the Jammu area over the last two years, and raised questions over key operational and intelligence challenges going through the armed forces south of the Pir Panjal vary, officers and consultants mentioned on Tuesday.
This was the sixth main assault within the Jammu area this 12 months and got here every week after 5 troopers have been killed in a terror ambush within the neighbouring Kathua district, indicating that terrorists had opened a brand new entrance in a comparatively peaceable a part of the Union territory.
The spike within the assaults factors to the alarming presence of a number of small teams of Pakistan-backed infiltrators within the area that’s now not as closely dominated by safety forces because it was earlier than the Ladakh army standoff started, and the military was compelled to divert a few of its forces there, officers mentioned.
The terrorists clearly need to open a brand new entrance to have interaction the military in an space that was comparatively quiet for a number of years, mentioned former Northern Military Commander Lieutenant Normal DS Hooda (retd).
“These teams have infiltrated into Jammu & Kashmir with a transparent technique to foment hassle within the Jammu area, in distinction to the sooner development of terrorists sneaking throughout the Line of Management (LoC) after which making their option to the Kashmir valley for finishing up strikes,” he mentioned.
The rising assaults have additionally raised questions in regards to the high quality of intelligence accessible to the safety forces to plan their operations and deter the terrorists, mentioned one of many officers cited above, who requested to not be named.
The centre of gravity of terrorism has shifted from the Kashmir valley to the Jammu area, particularly after the military redeployed its forces to strengthen its posture towards the Chinese language Folks’s Liberation Military within the Ladakh theatre and the vacuum created is being exploited, mentioned Lieutenant Normal Vinod Bhatia (retd), a former director basic of army operations.
“The fear community within the Jammu area is alive and kicking. Their handlers in Pakistan are calibrating the violence ranges to create instability. They’ve intensified this effort after issues returned to regular within the Kashmir valley,” Bhatia mentioned.
The military has buttressed its pressure ranges to some extent within the area and reorientated its models working there, however clearly extra must be executed, the consultants mentioned.
“We should tighten our counter-infiltration grid to stop terrorists from sneaking into Jammu & Kashmir. Human intelligence community additionally should be strong to tackle the terrorists,” Hooda mentioned.
The tough terrain in a number of the areas is among the key challenges confronting the military, mentioned a second official. In a number of cases, the terrorists have struck the military and managed to vanish within the mountain forests, with manhunts launched to get them proving futile.
“The terrain is a mixture of mountains and forests. The topography presents the terrorists each hiding floor and escape routes. LoC crisscrosses such terrain and that too poses a problem,” the official mentioned.
Terrorists have the higher hand towards the safety forces due to the aspect of shock, mentioned former Northern Military commander Lieutenant Normal BS Jaswal (retd). “This benefit may be decimated with enhanced intelligence,” he added.