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| 42 camps intact in Pak, 400 ultras waiting to infiltrate: Army | | | EARLY TIMES REPORT
SRINAGAR, Mar 28: Army today said this was going to be a hot summer terrorism-wise as 42 militant training camps were still intact in Pakistan and 400 ultras were in wait for an opportune moment to sneak into J&K to give impetus to the hitherto flagging terrorism.
Apprehending escalation in infiltration and violence level in Kashmir in the coming months, 15th Corps Brigadier General Staff (BGS) Gurmeet Singh told reporters here that the troops were
prepared to meet any challenge.
"This is going to be hot summer terrorism-wise in Kashmir as approximately 300 militants are active in the valley while another 400 are waiting in wings in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) to cross over to this side to step up violence," he added.
The BGS, however, said there was no need to panic as army troops were well prepared and equipped to meet the challenge. Approximately, 42 training camps were intact across the border. Of them, 34 were active and 400 militants were waiting for an opportunity to cross over to this side from 20 launching pads, he added.
He said army had prior information about the recent infiltration bid made by militants in Keran sector of Kupwara district. "We knew it, so we were in a position to eliminate 8 terrorists in
Keran sector from March 24 till yesterday. The mixed group of militants of Lashkar-e-Toiba, Hizbul Mujahideen and Harkat-ul-Mujahideen comprising eight terrorists were eliminated",
Singh said, adding all the slain infiltrators were foreigners. "This year, we have killed 28 terrorists in the valley which also includes those killed in the counter-terrorist grid in the hinterland," the BGS said.
Asked why operation was still in progress in Keran when all the eight infiltrators had been killed, Singh said, "Operation is still on. The area is being searched and we are checking the entire area for our satisfaction."
Asked if Talibans were among the mixed group of militants waiting to cross over to this side, he said, "There is no such report available with them."
Refuting media reports that 16 infiltration bids had taken place during this year, he said, "In our zone, it was the first infiltration bid on March 24. The area of infiltration is high altitude with rugged mountains and is snow-clad, currently having 12-15 feet of snow".
Singh said the slain terrorists, as was evident from the recoveries,were heavily armed had the latest communication and navigation equipment, indicative of the support of intelligence and government agencies from across the Line of Control.
"In this area, border wire fencing is still submerged under snow. After the initial group had infiltrated and was encountered, the second group, which was following them, was seen returning to their area and were effectively engaged by own troops. It has also been reliably learnt that seven to eight terrorists of the escaped group also suffered critical injuries", he said. Army shot dead two infiltrators in Keran sector on March 24 and killed another on March 26, while five were gunned down yesterday. Singh termed it as a major success for army as not a single soldier had suffered any injury.
"This year, we have occupied additional counter infiltration positions and repair of border fencing has also commenced earlier", he added.
Singh said the recovered weapons, ammunition, equipment, food items, medicines and also some video-clips and photographs clearly indicated high degree of desperation on the part of terrorists and their mentors and their preparedness for infiltration attempts.
The major items recovered from the slain militants included eight AK rifles, a pistol, three under barrel grenade launchers, five handgrenades, a global positioning system (GPS), three thuraya sets, five mobile phones, three map sheets, two matrix sheets and a high resolution binocular.
The BGS said Indian currency of Rs 98,000 was also recovered, half of which was fake.
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