50-60 terrorists waiting to sneak into Jammu: Army official

Over 50 terrorists are likely present on the launching pads across the border to sneak into Jammu region, a senior Army officer said, asserting that the forces are fully alert to the challenge and will foil any infiltration attempt, which changes especially during the winter months.

Speaking to reporters after the successful elimination of three terrorists in Akhnoor sector near Jammu, General Officer Commanding of 10 Infantry Division, Major General Sameer Srivastava said the Army will not allow the terrorists a free run to harm civilians.

Security forces on Tuesday morning gunned down two terrorists holed up in a forest area near a village in the Akhnoor sector, taking the number of militants killed in the 27-hour gunfight near the Line of Control to three, officials said.

"The pattern of infiltration changes with each passing year, especially during snowfall and we are ready for the challenge," the officer said.

Flanked by Brigadier Kapil Taneja, commander of 28 Infantry Brigade and deputy inspector general of police, Jammu-Kathua-Samba Range, Shiv Kumar Sharma, Maj Gen Srivastava said the challenges remain the same – counter the infiltration and terrorist actions.

"We are fully prepared as you have seen in the recent successful operations against terrorists. I am sure such successful operations will have an impact on terrorism," he said.

Asked about the number of terrorists likely present on the launching pads south of Pir Panjal, he said the inputs about the figure usually keeps varying with changing times.

"As per the joint intelligence reports, there are 50 to 60 terrorists present there," the senior Army officer said.

Describing the killing of three terrorists in Akhnoor as a major success for the security forces, he said they were not part of the fresh infiltration group.

Maj Gen Srivastava said, "This was a group which was present in the hinterland and we were tracking them for some time. They came here and got exposed."

"The area (Akhnoor) will be kept under strict surveillance even as ground reports suggest that there were only three terrorists," he added.

He said the counter-infiltration grid has been strengthened and "no infiltration had taken place in this area".

The terrorists present in the hinterland are moving in small groups and had moved to this area for a direct action, he said.

Maj Gen Srivastava said there is no permanent presence of terrorists in Akhnoor, adding, "We will not let our guard down. The area has seen no infiltration for a long time."

On a question about the recovery of sophisticated M-4 carbine from the slain terrorists and the possibility of Pakistan army directly providing arms to the terrorists, he said, "The source (of providing arms) can be many and it is very difficult to speculate."

Asked whether the terrorists were planning a similar attack as the one in Gulmarg ahead of Diwali in Jammu, he quipped, "That is what it appears", adding, "Any other reason to be there is very unlikely. Even if it was there, it (Jammu) was a wrong selection.”

Responding to another question about the attire of the slain terrorists, he said the types of combat uniforms are easily available in the market.

The senior Army officer said a huge cache of arms, ammunition and IEDs were recovered from the dead terrorists but denied having recovered an explosive vest during the operation.

"No belt IED was found even as all of them had personal weapons and ammunition,” he said, adding 'fidayeen' (suicide) action is something very difficult to be carried out in this area."

On terrorists targeting peaceful areas, he said terrorism is all about sensationalising things and "I think they came here (Akhnoor) to make sensational news".