| Turning on the heat after Operation Sarpvinash in the Surankote sector, the Army has moved in 10 battalions (nearly 10,000 men) to nail terrorists north of the Pir Panjal. As many as 45 militants have been gunned down and another 10, including an Al Qaeda operative, taken captive this week. Official sources in New Delhi today confirmed Army force levels have been increased in the Poonch-Naushera sector to strengthen the counter-insurgency grid, forcing militants to engage security forces or move out from their hideouts. The Army, in the meantime, has also started fencing 275 km of the Line of Control (LoC), prone to infiltration. Nearly 4,000 personnel from the Corps of Engineers are working round the clock to ensure that the work’s completed on time. By next year, South Block sources say, fencing work will intensify and will be undertaken along 600 km. ‘‘We plan to put up electrified fences along key points along the LoC to ensure that infiltration can be checked,’’ a senior Army official said. The spurt in terrorist kills by security forces has been a fallout of the operations at Hill Kaka where an estimated 350 terrorists were believed to have taken refuge. |