NEW DELHI: The Army's ongoing " Operation Shala Bhata" against the large group of intruders in the Keran sector in J&K has now entered the "terminal phase" after 10 days, with the remaining militants being pinned down to a smaller area after being surrounded from three sides by Indian soldiers.
"We have foiled one major attempt to resupply the trapped infiltrators with food, ammunition and radio batteries from across the LoC, with active connivance of the Pakistan Army. But smaller bids to resupply them could have gone through. Our aim is not to allow any one of the infiltrators to escape back across the border, the only route now open to them," said a senior officer on Thursday.
With intermittent gunfire still underway in the thickly-forested Shala Bhata region, the Army says it will take "some more time" to "sanitize" the "800x300 metre" area to which the intruders have now been restricted after the "initial contact" was spread across a "4 to 5km frontage" on the night of September 24.
In the major operation backed by additional forces, helicopters and spy drones in the high-altitude area, the Army till now claims to have killed 15 of the 35-40 intruders, suspected to be a mix of militants and Pakistani "special troops" armed with rifles, light machine guns and radio sets. Five Indian soldiers have also been wounded in the fierce encounter.
Pakistan on Thursday strongly denied its troops were involved in the infiltration bid, dubbing it "a blatant lie and baseless allegation", much like it had done after the beheading of an Indian soldier in Mendhar on January 8 as well as the killing of five Indian soldiers killed in Poonch on August 6.
But defence minister A K Antony blamed Pakistani Army's "specialist troops" and border action teams (BAT) for both the incidents. The assessment is that Pakistani Army has been steadily upping the ante since January, especially after Nawaz Sharif was elected the PM in May. Apart from around 150 ceasefire violations being recorded since January, the number of militants who have tried to infiltrate into J&K has jumped to over 210 already this year.
Even in the ongoing operation in Keran, Army officers say that while "no definitive evidence of regular Pakistan Army troops being involved has been found so far", the way the major infiltration bid unfolded on September 24 and the "sustained fight-back" clearly showed the Pakistani Army's imprint in the incident.
"There is definite assistance being given to the intruders from the launch pads on the LoC," said an officer. Srinagar-based 15 Corps commander, Lt-General Gurmeet Singh, who is overseeing the overall operation, had himself called it a "BAT-cum-infiltration bid" on Wednesday.
The Pakistani Army is keeping a close tab on the 778km-long LoC, striking swiftly whenever it detects "tactical lapses" by Indian soldiers. Much like the earlier beheading and cross-border ambushes, the "BAT-cum-infiltration bid" in the Keran sector came during the changeover of battalions, just after the 20 Kumaon Regiment had handed over charge to the 3/3 Gorkha Rifles. Units being posted out of forward areas are known to become complacent, while the ones replacing them are still to come to grips with their new deployments.
"We have foiled one major attempt to resupply the trapped infiltrators with food, ammunition and radio batteries from across the LoC, with active connivance of the Pakistan Army. But smaller bids to resupply them could have gone through. Our aim is not to allow any one of the infiltrators to escape back across the border, the only route now open to them," said a senior officer on Thursday.
With intermittent gunfire still underway in the thickly-forested Shala Bhata region, the Army says it will take "some more time" to "sanitize" the "800x300 metre" area to which the intruders have now been restricted after the "initial contact" was spread across a "4 to 5km frontage" on the night of September 24.
In the major operation backed by additional forces, helicopters and spy drones in the high-altitude area, the Army till now claims to have killed 15 of the 35-40 intruders, suspected to be a mix of militants and Pakistani "special troops" armed with rifles, light machine guns and radio sets. Five Indian soldiers have also been wounded in the fierce encounter.
Pakistan on Thursday strongly denied its troops were involved in the infiltration bid, dubbing it "a blatant lie and baseless allegation", much like it had done after the beheading of an Indian soldier in Mendhar on January 8 as well as the killing of five Indian soldiers killed in Poonch on August 6.
But defence minister A K Antony blamed Pakistani Army's "specialist troops" and border action teams (BAT) for both the incidents. The assessment is that Pakistani Army has been steadily upping the ante since January, especially after Nawaz Sharif was elected the PM in May. Apart from around 150 ceasefire violations being recorded since January, the number of militants who have tried to infiltrate into J&K has jumped to over 210 already this year.
Even in the ongoing operation in Keran, Army officers say that while "no definitive evidence of regular Pakistan Army troops being involved has been found so far", the way the major infiltration bid unfolded on September 24 and the "sustained fight-back" clearly showed the Pakistani Army's imprint in the incident.
"There is definite assistance being given to the intruders from the launch pads on the LoC," said an officer. Srinagar-based 15 Corps commander, Lt-General Gurmeet Singh, who is overseeing the overall operation, had himself called it a "BAT-cum-infiltration bid" on Wednesday.
The Pakistani Army is keeping a close tab on the 778km-long LoC, striking swiftly whenever it detects "tactical lapses" by Indian soldiers. Much like the earlier beheading and cross-border ambushes, the "BAT-cum-infiltration bid" in the Keran sector came during the changeover of battalions, just after the 20 Kumaon Regiment had handed over charge to the 3/3 Gorkha Rifles. Units being posted out of forward areas are known to become complacent, while the ones replacing them are still to come to grips with their new deployments.
No comments:
Post a Comment