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| Army launches decisive assault, 350 soldiers engaged in operation | | | Early Times Report
Jammu, Jan 7: Army personnel were carrying out a "deliberate operation" to wear out the holed-up terrorists to avoid casualties in security forces, as their encounter in the dense forests in Poonch raged for the seventh day in one of the longest battles in the border state in years.
The Army said the eight to ten terrorists holed up in the Bhati Dhar jungles in Jammu region were suspected to be from Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terror group.
Defence Minister AK Antony, its chief General Deepak Kapoor and senior officers in Jammu underpinned a strategy to quickly end the encounter which was marked by a heavy exchange of gunfire but acknowledged it was taking time due to the difficult terrain and to avoid casualties among securitymen.
"We want to flush out the militants but we want to ensure there is no casualties," Antony said in New Delhi.
Army Chief General Deepak Kapoor told reporters, "We are carrying out to ensure maximum attrition on the terrorists to ensure that we do not suffer any casualties... The area is very rocky and filled with natural caves. That is why it(the operation) is taking time."
Asked about a time frame to flush out the militants from their fortified cave hideouts, Gen Kapoor said the army was trying to finish off the operation as soon as possible.
Brigadier General Staff Brig Gurdeep Singh told reporters in Mendhar that it is not possible to specify as of now how long the operation will last. Singh said the undulating forest terrain in the region and the weather were acting as big constraints for the army in flushing them out.
"We are carrying out a deliberate operation to wear out the terrorists and to ensure that the casualties among our own forces are avoided. That's why we are taking time to eliminate the terrorists holed up here," Singh added.
Meanwhile, the militants exchanging heavy gunfire with security forces in Bhati Dhar jungles of Poonch are suspected to be from Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed terror group, the army said on Wednesday, but did not specify any time frame for flushing them out.
"The holed up militants, who have been exchanging fire with the security forces for the last one week, seem to be from JeM based on the intercepts that we have got," Brigadier General Staff Brig Gurdeep Singh told reporters.
Unlike operation 'Sarp Nash' in 2003 during which security forces had come across bunkers built by militants, Brig Singh said in the current operation, there were no such reports of bunkers being set up by the ultras in the forest area.
The militants were using natural caves with rocks around them as hideouts in the region, he said.
Replying to questions on the operation that began on January 1, he said, "it is not possible to specify as of now how long the operation will last."
The officer said the undulating forest terrain in the region and the weather were acting as major constraints for the army in flushing them out.
"We are carrying out a deliberate operation to wear out the terrorists and to ensure that the casualties among our own forces are avoided. That's why we are taking time to eliminate the terrorists holed up here," Singh added.
Strongly denying reports that there were 1,500 troops deployed in the operation, the Brigadier said that there were just about 350 men on the ground as of now battling the terrorists. On whether more troops from specialised forces such as the National Security Guards would be joining the operation, Brig Singh said he had enough men to do the job and the troops were doing well.
Army also said it suspected militants to be still holed up in the forests as two small arm shots had been fired by the militants since this morning from different spots in the operational area.
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