J& K attack targeted Army installations?
Investigations by multiple security and intelligence agencies into the major infiltration bid by terrorists in Kupwara region in North Kashmir on Monday in which three Army jawans and a militant was killed have revealed that the attempt was primarily aimed at targeting vital Army installations in the Valley.
The incident took place in the dense forests of Tangdhar sector in Kupwara as senior security officials claim that it was one of the fiercest gun battles in recent times between terrorists and Army personnel. Thus the infiltrating militants, who were said to be heavily armed with sophisticated weapons, managed to kill three Army personnel.
“This is probably the highest casualty of security personnel in one single incident this year. It also shows how well trained and heavily armed these militants were,” a senior security official said. Though initial reports suggest that the remaining militants went back to Pakistan Occupied Kashmir ( PoK), a major search operation is being carried out in the Tangdhar sector to ensure that some of them are not hiding in the dense forests in the area.
The Army for the last few days had been working on specific intelligence inputs that militants from PoK will try and infiltrate into Kashmir, particularly from the Kupwara region, in an attempt to target important security assets in the Valley. Central intelligence agencies have been getting regular inputs that top terror operatives in PoK now want to target Army camps and other security installations in the Valley in a big way in the days ahead. The inputs have also been shared with various agencies, including the ministries of defence and home, following which extra security measures have been put in place installations.
Among the new security measures there is a special focus on strengthening the outer security parameter at camps of Army and paramilitary forces by deploying more personnel and ammunitions. “We have been getting concrete information on a consistent basis about a major plan by terrorist organisations to hit the security force hard. So we have taken some preventive measures but our focus is to ensure that the infiltration does not take place and the militants are eliminated at the border itself so that they do not get an opportunity to strike,” the official added.