In an operation that lasted many days, 5 troopers together with two Captain rank officers had been killed by militants in higher Rajouri areas. Although the 2 militants had been finally killed, the occasions point out that militancy is progressively shifting base, reviews Faiqa Masoodi
In Rajouri’s Bajimaal space, two military officers had been amongst 5 troopers who misplaced their lives in a two-day gun battle with militants final week. Subsequently, two Pakistani militants had been killed after which the operation was efficiently known as off. The troopers who fell within the line of responsibility embrace Captain MV Pranjal of Mangalore (Karnataka), Captain Shubham Gupta of Agra (UP), Havaldar Abdul Majid of Ajote (Poonch), Lance Naik Sanjay Bisht of Nainital (Uttarakhand) and para-trooper Sachin Laur of Nagaliya Giurola in UP’s Aligarh.
In response to Lt Col Suneel Bartwal, Defence PRO Jammu, the military was monitoring the actions of the militants after receiving details about their presence for the final month.
“A month prior, search efforts had been carried out, and on Wednesday, communication was established with the terrorists who had been hiding. All intelligence companies had been working to eradicate this menace. After the terrorists had been efficiently eradicated, we concluded the operation yesterday,” PRO mentioned. Recoveries embrace a large amount of weapons, ammunition, and provides. The searches of the realm are nonetheless ongoing.
The operation started on November 17, after a militant was killed in an encounter within the Behrote Budhal space of Rajouri the place two to 3 militants had been believed to be trapped.
“One terrorist neutralised, large cache of arms and ammunition was recovered from the encounter website Behrot in Budhal of Rajouri District. The identification of the terrorist is being ascertained. Search operation underway,” Jammu and Kashmir Police had mentioned.
Within the aftermath of the skirmish, militants had been noticed traversing the neighbouring villages, foraging for sustenance among the many native populace. The Wire reported that safety personnel obtained a minimum of two suggestions relating to the presence of militants within the space on November 19.
Following the guidelines, a joint workforce of safety forces comprising the Military and JK Police amongst different central paramilitary forces launched search operations in Ziarat, Mal, Gulabgarh forest, and the Solaki space of Kalakote in Rajouri district the place militants had been believed to be hiding.
The Hindustan Occasions reported that the 2 militants had been first noticed at a home in Kalakote asking for meals. “That they had visited the home on Sunday the place they had been seen speaking to ladies for meals. A video of the duo is being shared extensively on social media.”
The contact with the militants was established on November 22 when the safety forces had been laying a cordon across the space. The militants with heavy weapons had been firmly established on the hillsides of Solki, leading to a bloody gunfight within the district’s Baajimal neighbourhood.
The Wire reported that the depth of the fireplace was so excessive that the joint workforce needed to retreat, leaving a few of the injured behind, and regroup, earlier than taking up the militants.
On day one in all operation 4 military personnel, together with two captains, had been killed. One other soldier succumbed to his accidents on day two of the operation. The forces had been in a position to neutralise two militants on the identical day.
In a publish on X, the White Knight Corps of the Military mentioned that primarily based on particular intelligence, joint operations had been launched within the Kalakote space of Gulabgarh forest in Rajouri on Sunday. “Contact was established on 22 November and an intense firefight ensued. The terrorists have been injured and surrounded and operations are in progress, amidst acts of valour and sacrifice by their very own courageous hearts in attempting to forestall collateral harm to ladies and youngsters within the highest traditions of the Indian Military,” it mentioned.
Qurai, one of many militants killed within the encounter is believed to have been the mastermind behind the dual assaults on Dangri and Kandi in Rajouri in June 2023, wherein six individuals had been killed. A well-trained sniper and an explosives skilled, Qurai, a prime LeT commander, was a Pakistani nationwide, who was an skilled sniper and well-trained in guerrilla warfare and improvised explosive gadgets (IED). He had been energetic in Rajouri for over a 12 months.
“Quari was identified to be the mastermind behind #Dangri incident, wherein six harmless civilians had been killed on Jan 23, in addition to #Kandi assaults within the #rajouri #poonch areas. He was instrumental within the revival of terrorism in these districts,” Military’s 16 Corps wrote on X.
The Dangri Assault is a key hyperlink to a collection of gun battles that rocked the Pir Panchal Valley comprising Rajouri and Poonch districts.
On first January 2023, gunmen in a Sports activities Utility Automobile (SUV) drove as much as Dangri village in Pir Panchal, practically 7 km from Rajouri, and attacked, killing 4 civilians and injuring six extra. The incident made headlines around the globe. In response to the police, the people who vanished within the close by forests underneath the quilt of darkness had been militants.
The assault occurred shortly after former Police Chief Dilbagh Singh declared the Jammu division “virtually” freed from militancy in November 2022.
Bhata Dhurian: On April 20, militants at Bhata Dhurian in Poonch killed 5 troopers from the Military’s counterinsurgency wing, the Rashtriya Rifles. The troopers had been en path to Sangiote with a truck filled with fruits and different provisions for an iftar social gathering. Locals mentioned that invites to the 7 pm occasion had been despatched to numerous individuals within the village and that the Rashtriya Rifles unit was answerable for making the preparations. Round 3 pm, the assault occurred. There was barely time for the troopers to reply as two or three overseas militants threw grenades and fired bullets into the truck. Locals and Military personnel flocked to the scene as quickly as they heard in regards to the assault. They discovered the charred our bodies of 5 troopers and a sixth in vital situation
Kandi Kotranka Assault: In Might 5 Military personnel had been killed and a Main (Particular Forces) wounded in an explosion triggered by militants throughout a gunfight within the thickly forested Kandi Kotrankai space of Kotranka sub-division space of Rajouri district the place troops had engaged terrorists hiding in a cave.
Surankote Poonch: In July 2023, the primary main profitable operation in opposition to militants within the space after a number of assaults in Rajouri and Poonch since January led to the killing of 4 militants in an encounter with the safety forces in Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch district.
Alpha Gate (Rajouri): In December 2022, bullet-riddled our bodies had been recovered exterior an Military camp in Rajouri district on the morning of December 16.
Kotranka Explosions in March-April 2022 4 consecutive blats in 28 days in areas of Kotranka sub division in Rajouri district put safety forces on tenterhooks.
Along with these assaults, gun battles periodically rocked the dual districts within the Pir Panchal Vary with most of them ending in lower than 24 hours.
In response to media reviews, 46 deaths have been recorded in militancy-related incidents in Rajouri and Poonch and close by Reasi district since January 2023. Whereas 23 individuals, together with seven militants and 9 safety personnel, had been killed in Rajouri, 15 militants and 5 safety personnel had been killed in Poonch district.
= The realm noticed peace in 2000 after being a hub of insurgency within the late Nineteen Nineties and early 2000s. Nonetheless, officers report that regardless of a discernible decline in native recruitment, the border districts have seen a relative spike in militancy-related incidents over the previous few years because of an increase in militant infiltration and drone weapon drops.
Traditionally, Rajouri and Poonch had been part of the erstwhile Poonch property, part of which lies on the opposite facet of LoC Put up-Partition. Rajouri, with an space of two,630 sq. kilometres, has Poonch district to the north, Reasi district to the east, Kotli district on the opposite facet of LoC to the west and Jammu district to the south.
Poonch, one other district within the Jammu area, lies to the north of Rajouri. With an space of 1,674 sq. kilometres, it’s bordered by Kulgam, Shopian, and Budgam districts to the east, Rajouri district to the south, Baramulla and Haveli districts on the opposite facet of LoC to the north, and part of Poonch district on different facet of LoC to the west.
Each districts share a protracted border of greater than 200 kilometres with Pakistan
Administered Kashmir within the type of the Line of Management (LoC), which provides
infiltrators entry to the realm. Your entire belt is predominantly hilly, rocky, and mountainous terrain, making it simple for infiltrators to thrive there in security.
By navigating Pir Panchal’s hilly terrain and thick vegetation, the militants are mentioned to be utilising it strategically, and due to the strategic benefits of top and dense forest cowl, encounters within the space usually final for a number of days.
A number of of the primary passes within the Pir Panjal vary, together with Banihal, Haji Pir, and Pir Panjal Cross, present easy entry to infiltrators given their proximity to LoC.
Moreover, overseas militants function within the area with out drawing suspicion due to their shared ethnic and spiritual backgrounds with the locals. Additionally, the observe of working in dense forest areas as a substitute of villages or far-flung habitations makes the Pir Panjal terrain an efficient hideout.
Former DGP of JK Police, Dilbag Singh on September 9, 2023, acknowledged that the resurgence of militancy in Jammu’s Pir Panjal area was being overseen by former native militants primarily based in Pakistan.
“We goal to ship a robust message to the native militants who’ve crossed the border and are trying to resurrect terrorism that they can’t reside in peace. We’re going to get to them, and people who are serving to them from listed below are going to get a tough time,” he mentioned.
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