500terroristswaitingat border, 60 entered: Army
Security establishment in state of high alert, all critical installations, including various military bases, cautioned
NEW DELHI: At least 60 terrorists have infiltrated Jammu and Kashmir in the last few weeks and another 500 are waiting to do so, multiple intelligence agencies have told the government and warned about an impending major terror attack, army and security officials familiar with the matter said on the condition of anonymity.
The Indian Army, deployed along the border, is in a heightened state of alert. “Security forces, in particular, the Indian military, are ready and will retaliate, which may not be restricted only to the border,” an Army official who did not want to be named said.
“All critical installations including various military bases have been cautioned,” a second senior official in the security establishment who did not want to be named said. “500 terrorists waiting to infiltrate is unusual and alarming,” the official added.
Security agencies have told the government to expect a terror attack after the United Nations General Assembly session, the second official said.
The window for terrorist infiltration along the Line of Control – the disputed boundary between India and Pakistan – closes with approaching winter. Sectors such as Gurez-kargilmachhil-keran-tangdhar-uri are snowbound by November, making it difficult for terrorists to cross over. And, as the winter approaches, infiltrating terrorists shift their focus to the Jammu-kathua area.
Importantly, security agencies have also told the government that small drones capable of carrying small loads can be used to ferry weapons across the heavily-guarded border to be used by terrorists.
“In the recent past, intercepts indicate the use of small drones to carry weapons, arms and ammunition across the border,” a third senior official in the security establishment said elaborating on the threat.
“For terrorists who have infiltrated, weapons and ammunition are in short supply. Using an ingenious method, such as drones is very much in the realm of possibility.”
Intelligence inputs indicate that several “terror launch pads” — makeshift facilities near the border where terrorists wait seeking the right opportunity to infiltrate — are active again.
Terror training camps — including the Balakot terror training camp that was hit by the Indian Air Force (IAF) after the February 14 Pulwama suicide attack — are active again.
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan’s repeated reference to a “false-flag terror operation by Indian agencies to justify another attack on establishment in Pakistan has been interpreted as an “indicator” of the impending terror attack. Security agencies have also told the government that the increased activity in the terror launch pads and terror training camps is Pakistan’s response to India to scrapping the special status of Jammu and Kashmir and splitting the state into two Union Territories. Pakistan has also tried to internationalised the Kashmir issue. NEW DELHI: Army chief General Bipin Rawat on Monday said Pakistan has reactivated Jaish-emohammed (Jem)’s Balakot terror camp, which was bombed by Indian Air Force in February, and suggested that India may take new measures to hit back at such sites.
“...Balakot has been reactivated by Pakistan very recently,” Rawat told reporters at the Officers Training Academy in Chennai. HT on Sunday reported that JEM has revived the camp and is training 40 terrorists to carry out attacks in Jammu and Kashmir and elsewhere in India in the garb of a new name.
Indian fighters flew deep into Pakistan to bomb the facility at Balakot in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on February 26 in response to the February 14 car bombing in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama that killed 40 troopers of the Central Reserve Police Force. JEM claimed responsibility for the attack, escalating tensions between India and Pakistan.
Rawat said Balakot camp was destroyed by the cross-border strike. “That is why people have gotten away from there and now it has been reactivated,” he said.
“Why must you expect a repeat of a similar thing. Earlier we did something, then we did Balakot. Why must we repeat?” he said when asked if a repeat strike may be expected. On the militant infiltration, Rawat said: “The numbers keep fluctuating, but I would say... there are at least 500 people who are waiting to infiltrate...”
Security forces, in particular, the Indian military, are ready and will retaliate which may not be restricted only to the border.
ARMY OFFICIAL