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| Govt. isn't for deployment of more troops | | Army expects upsurge in violence in J&K | | From B L KAK
NEW DELHI, July 1: The death of a Lt. Col. of Indian Army as well as three encounters with well-equipped militants in Kashmir in a matter of 24 hours have led the Army Headquarters as well as the Ministry of Home Affairs to expect an upsurge in violence in the troubled State of Jammu and Kashmir.
Encounters with militants, significantly, came after the interception of messages from across the Line of Control (LoC). These messages talked of two important happenings round the corner. One, Islamist suicide squads, or fidayeen, will target Indian Army's unit headquarters in Jammu and Kashmir. And deadly operations will also be directed against the local police and CRPF units in the State.
Second, two radio intercepts talked about the arrival in Kashmir of a number of hard-core Islamic 'fighters' in recent times and about the 'arrangements already made for more weapons' for J&K-based militants and foreign mercenaries.
Areas identified for the recommended fidayeen strikes are located in the districts of Srinagar, Kupwara and Baramulla in Kashmir Valley and in the districts of Poonch, Rajouri and Doda in Jammu region. It is official: Fidayeen are armed with highly sophisticated bombs and improvised explosive devices (IEDs). And they possess skills to penetrate heavily guarded establiushments and lay siege to fortified security forces' camps.
Even as the Army has, in the past one week or so, come under pressure to evolve new strategies to deal with militants and jihadis, the possibility of the deployment of more troops in Kashmir has been ruled out, at least for the present. EARLY TIMES has learnt that official intelligence agencies have already informed the government of India that Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) activists and operatives have received instructions from across the border calling for lightning raids onIndian security establishments and convoys of defence personnel.
Some highly disturbing incidents in Srinagar, Baramulla and Kupwara have, at the ground level, forced the security forces to return to their previous 'cordon-and-search' tactics. The Ministries of Defence--Army Headquarters, to be precise-- and Home Affairs are in the receipt of evidence vis-a-vis 'determination' on part of armed militants, or suicide squads, to intensify their attacks on the Army and paramilitary forces as well as on the police officers.
It is also official: Infiltration into J&K from across the LoC has registered an increase in recent times. Any talk of a drastic reduction in troops in Jammu and Kashmir will have to be linked to the security scenario and building up of lethal weapons in India's neighbourhood.
Sources in the Defence Ministry told EARLY TIMES that India's stand favouring retention of heavy equipment in J&K had to be studied in the context of two developments. First, the logistic infrastructure of the terrorist training camps inside Pakistan and Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) still remains intact. Second, there has been an increase in cros-border infiltration in recent times.
These sources said that a large number of launching camps had been activated along the Line of Control from Rajouri in Jammu region to Gurez sector in Kashmir Valley. In these camps, militants have been kept in readines for infiltration.
No wonder, the Centre has again highlighted the need of effective vigil over the routes along the LoC in the inaccessible areas, thereby intercepting 'misguided' Kashmiri youth before they cross over to the other side for obtaining training.
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