The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Monday, August 20, 2001, Chandigarh, India

THE TRIBUNE SPECIALS

50 YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE

TERCENTENARY CELEBRATIONS

J A M M U & K A S H M I R

Ultras targeting Jammu city
Rajeev Sharma
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 19
The objective of infiltrating militants across the international border in Jammu is to target Jammu city and establish hideouts around the city with a view to creating problems later on, according to a latest official assessment of the cross-border terrorism situation.

Other objectives of Pakistan’s proxy war machinery, specifically for the Jammu region, are:

* Infiltrating Sikh militants to destabilise Jammu as well as Punjab.

* Planting explosives on railway tracks.

* Using this route for infiltrating militants and arms to Delhi.

* Using this route to reach areas in Udhampur/Doda districts.

A post-Kargil trend that has come to the notice of the authorities is that now a sizeable infiltration in the Jammu region is taking place through the Samba-Hiranagar and Akhnoor sectors of the international border. Earlier, the IB was used for purposes of smuggling, limited to that of gold, drugs, etc. But of late, Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) has been infiltrating militants and arms and ammunitions and explosives through this border.

EARLIER STORIES

	Trifurcation and Jinnah’s theory ‘same’ August 19, 2001
	Don’t embarrass Farooq, Jammu BJP told August 18, 2001
	J&K to formulate population policy August 17, 2001
	CM dares militants to target him August 16, 2001
	Red alert fails to quell fear August 15, 2001
	Tight security in Srinagar August 14, 2001
	Extension of Act a blunder: APJSC August 13, 2001
	Farooq’s assurance to Sikhs, Hindus August 12, 2001
	Railway station needs adequate security August 11, 2001
	Hurriyat to resume agitation August 10, 2001
	BSNL mobile phones for Jammu & Kashmir soon August 9, 2001

Another noticeable recent trend was of dumping of arms and ammunition either near the border or near the Leh-Srinagar national highway. The dumped arms and ammunition are carried to the destinations by separate couriers. Gujjars and Bakkarwals, living in the border areas, help the infiltrators as guides and porters to enable them to carry weapons to their destinations.

The internal security grid was weakened to a large extent with the withdrawal of 58 Army battalions. Coupled to this was the fact that para-military forces, mainly the CRPF, were “quantitatively and qualitatively inadequate.”