M A I N   N E W S

Subversives carve out new routes
From M.L. Kak
Tribune News Service

JAMMU, Jan 1 — Troops today foiled a plan to storm a brigade headquarters in Surankot area of Poonch by killing two “fidayeen” volunteers (members of suicide squads).

Reports reaching here said a group of militants sneaked close to the entry point of the headquarters and opened fire on soldiers guarding the brigade headquarters. The troops swung into action and killed two attackers on the spot. The third is said to have either escaped or taken shelter in an area close to the headquarters. A manhunt has been launched for nabbing the remaining “fidayeens.”

Official sources said the militants, most of them foreign mercenaries, were trying to attack police posts, brigade or battalion headquarters and Army posts in Poonch, Rajouri and Udhampur districts. A round-the-clock patrolling had been ordered by Maj-Gen G.S. Negi, in charge of the counter-insurgency operations in these areas.

The purpose of sending “fedayeen” volunteers to storm into the security camps, and units was to put the Army and the police on the defensive. During the past several months, the joint operations carried out by the Army, the police and men of the paramilitary forces had resulted in the elimination of over 110 militants in Poonch, Rajouri and upper reaches of Udhampur.

However, General Negi said militants had begun to sneak into the Indian territory from across Gujarat and Nepal as Pakistani agencies wanted to make up for the reverses suffered. He said a concerted bid had been made by these agencies to push into the Jammu sector infiltrators from across the 187-km-long international border between Kathua and Akhnoor.

Those who could manage to cross the border from either the Samba or R.S. Pora or Akhnoor sectors would invariably travel to Poonch, Rajouri, Udhampur and Doda areas.

Some militants, he said, were found to have entered India on fake documents, travelling by train or bus without any arms and ammunition. As a result, they evaded arrest by the security forces.

Once they reached their destination, they were supplied arms and ammunition to kick up subversive violence. New infiltration routes had been carved out on the border. Several areas in Poonch, Rajouri, Udhampur and Doda districts had witnessed heavy concentration of foreign mercenaries.

The authorities said in Poonch and Rajouri belts, especially in Surankot area, there were more than 400 to 500 militants and 80 per cent of them were nationals of Pakistan and Afghanistan. Some belonged to occupied Kashmir.

What had seemingly compounded the problems of the security forces was that these militants did not engage in direct encounters with the police or the Army, subversives carve out new routes. They had adopted the hit and run strategy and usually resorted to IED and grenade blasts while carrying out surprise attacks on security convoys or camps.

Another problem was that the attackers usually took shelter in inhabited colonies. Hence the security forces could not resort to immediate retaliation for fear of killing civilians.

Militants had been able to carve out safe sanctuaries in the upper reaches of Poonch, Rajouri, Udhampur and Doda districts. The alpine forest ranges had hampered easy mobility and by the time the security forces reached a particular site, the rebels managed to escape.

It was in this context that the Centre had agreed to provide six to eight helicopters to the state government.