Jammu, September 4
Having suffered a severe set back due to the killing of a terrorist leader, Gazi Baba, by the BSF at Srinagar, terrorists have stepped up their attacks on military installations in Jammu division.
Army sources expect more such attacks in the days to come as the terrorist groups are desperate after the killing of Gazi Baba at Srinagar.
While a fierce gunbattle was going on between security forces and terrorists for the past three days at Ghatti, almost at the southern end of Jammu division, another group of terrorists made a suicide attack on an Army camp at Poonch which is the northern-most part of Jammu this morning. In both incidents the terrorists were wearing Army uniforms.
Two jawans of the ITBP were killed in an ambush of terrorists in Doda district yesterday.
An army officer said a spurt in terrorist activities was expected in the area south of the Pir Panjal range following the killing of Gazi Baba. The Jaish-e-Mohammad and the Laskhar-e-Toiba outfits have reportedly joined hands to accelerate their activities to take revenge of the killing of Gazi Baba.
There were reports that several splinter and smaller terrorist organisations were also planning to come on one platform as the death of a top leader like Gazi Baba has come as a severe blow to the terrorist movement.
The officer said that having learnt a lesson from the earlier attacks, the Army was fully prepared to tackle the terrorists. He said the terrorists had started intermingling with the civilian population, particularly in the border district of Rajouri and Poonch, to catch the security forces unawares. Most of the terrorists have got their beards shaven and an eye was being kept on such activities.
The way the encounter at Ghatti has spilled over to the third day without any casualties reported on the side of the terrorists by the end of the day, it appears that the seven terrorists were specially trained in such warfare. The Army authorities were making efforts to finish the operation by this evening and not allow it to pass on to the fourth day.
