Some 2,000 guerrillas are waiting at various points on the Pakistani side of the Line of Control (LoC) to cross over to Jammu and Kashmir, say Indian Army officials. For years the army has known that June and July are the cruellest months for terrorist incursions across the LoC, and this has been confirmed with more than 20 infiltration attempts since last month. But worse is yet to come, said army officials. There are 44 terrorist training camps, almost double the number of âlaunching padsâ for infiltration attempts across the LoC, they said.
In the past week alone, there were infiltration bids at Bhimbhar Gali, Balakote, Gurez, Keran, Uri and Sunderbani. The speed and frequency of these bids in the past six weeks is reminiscent of the period before the November 26, 2003 ceasefire, when infiltration was a regular phenomenon along the 742-km LoC, especially in the Kashmir Valley and the border districts of Rajouri and Poonch in the Jammu region. Officials say the only difference this time is that Pakistani troops are not offering covering fire to terrorists trying to sneak into the Indian side. âBut the fact that they are attempting to cross over from glacial heights of 14,000 feet at Gurez and trying to breach our electrified fence speaks of their determination,â said an army officer. âThere could be two reasons,â said the officer, âfor such misadventures by infiltrators. Either they are a very determined lot or they are being pushed from the other side to cross at all costs. In both cases, it is a big challenge to the Indian Army. So far, we have lived up to our reputation as almost all infiltration attempts have been foiled.â |