More than 1,300 militants are currently in a chain of launching pads along the Line of Control in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, ready to infiltrate into Jammu and Kashmir to step up militant activities in the state, top security sources said Thursday.
"Over 1,300 militants are stationed along the LoC, ready to infiltrate into Jammu and Kashmir to keep the pot of militancy boiling here," a source told PTI.
Intelligence inputs and ground reports collected by various security agencies put the figure of militants at launch pads at 1,300, the sources said.
These agencies have also detected increased infiltration along the LoC this year, particularly in the Rajouri-Poonch sector of Jammu region and Gurez sector of Kashmir. The militants are stationed at some 18 launching pads, mostly in Goi, Kotli, Nikial, Bindi, Samani, Dhallupar, Hijira, Sensakudiala Bhimber and Mamana along the LoC, the sources said.
There are 26 militant training camps in PoK, including 21 along LoC and four along the international border, they said. "There was no major loss to the terror infrastructure in PoK in the October 8 earthquake as most militants are in makeshift camps in PoK and Pakistan, mostly in forest areas," a source said.
Though the Hizbul Mujahideen and Lashker-e-Taiba suffered some casualities due to the destruction of four camps in Muzaffarabad and Neelam Valley during the quake, they managed to rebuild their infrastructure, the sources said.
According to the security agencies, some 300 militants sneaked into Jammu and Kashmir in the first six months this year - considerably higher than the figure of 100 recorded in the same period in 2005 and 225 in 2004.
While foiling infiltration bids, security forces killed 27 militants in the first six months of 2004, while 70 ultras were killed in 2005 and 43 in 2006.
The number of ultras operating in the hinterlands has gone up to 1,600 from 1,300 in 2005 due to fresh infiltration, the sources said.
While 1,000 militants are operating in the Kashmir Valley, 600 are operating in the mountainous belt of Jammu region, the sources said adding that a large number of militants are now active in the Poonch-Rajouri-Gool belt.
The LeT has a dominant role in militancy in the state and Hizbul is at number two, while the activities of the Jaish-e-Mohammed have gone down, they said.
According the state intelligence department's figures, 275 militants were killed in first six months of this year, compared to 463 killed in the corresponding period in 2005.
There were 832 militancy-related incidents in the first six months of 2006, compared to 781 in 2005.