In the ongoing encounter in the jungles of the Rajouri sector, six terrorists belonging to the Pakistan sheltered Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) have been gunned down by the Indian Army with efforts to neutralise the remaining Islamic jihadists.
To hold discussions with the local commanders who are handling the ongoing counter-terrorism operations, on 16th October, Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) Gen Bipin Rawat had visited the area after nine men were lost by the Indian Army while engaging with terrorists in the Rajouri jungles.
The infiltration
According to an Indian Army commander, while the terrorists operated in buddy pairs of two, they had the advantage of continuously changing positions allowing them to engage a larger body of troops which resulted in casualties to the Indian Army troops.
In the past two to three months, around 10 LeT terrorists had infiltrated from Pakistan towards the jungles between Rajouri-Poonch district borders as per the South Block.
Although several infiltration bids were foiled at the Line of Control (LoC), the terrorists belonging from Pakistan were buoyed with their success in Afghanistan while on the other hand the terror surge was already anticipated by the Indian forces and security agencies.
Strategic takedown
Instructions to establish a cordon around the area with the presence of the terrorists were given on the spot while now the change in the strategy was to let the terrorists make the move to get replenishments from nearby villages to aid their survival thereby making themselves exposed as targets.
According to one of the commanders, it required patience for jungle warfare along with instructions to the troops are cautious and by engaging the terrorist head-on, casualties are usually avoided. The army first tires the terrorists and then eliminates them as time is not a constraint.
Just a matter of time
The level of violence in Kashmir is expected to rise as Pakistan based jihadists might take the aid of the weapons and night vision devices left by the US troops in Afghanistan and believe that they are capable of occupying Jammu and Kashmir similar to how the Taliban militarily occupied Afghanistan, although it is an obvious matter of time when the remaining terrorists are eliminated by the Indian Army counter-terrorist troops.
Earlier this month, an army officer and four other soldiers had lost their lives during an encounter between security forces and the terrorists when a heavy gunfight was underway in the Surankote area with at least four to five heavily armed terrorists who crossed into the country a few days ago.