The central government has airlifted two battalions of Assam Rifles from conflict-ridden Manipur to Jammu and Kashmir in the face of increased terror attacks in the Union Territory over the past few months.
Previously 2000 Border Security Force (BSF) paramilitary personnel and 3000 Indian Army troops had already been additionally deployed in the Jammu region for counter-terrorist operations due to an uptick in terror attacks.
On Friday, the Home Ministry had issued orders removing the BSF Director General (DG) Nitin Agrawal, and his deputy, Special DG (West) Y B Khurania, from their positions with ‘immediate effect,’ in response to the increasing number of terror incidents in the Jammu region. The BSF, which is the world’s largest paramilitary border guarding force, is in charge of manning the international border (IB) between India Pakistan, while the Indian Army is responsible for guarding the Line of Control (LOC) between India and Pakistan.
The decision to airlift two battalions of Assam Rifles was taken by the Home Ministry following terror incidents in Kathua, Doda, Udhampur, Rajouri and Reasi districts of the Jammu region, that were declared terrorism-free nearly 20 years ago.
Reports indicate that due to the excellent security grid in the Kashmir valley, which makes infiltration from Pakistan extremely difficult, terrorists have now adopted a new tactic, with upwards of 50 Pakistani terrorists trained in jungle and guerrilla warfare having reportedly infiltrated in the Jammu region.
Reports also indicate that serving and retired soldiers of the Pakistani Army trained in jungle warfare have also infiltrated with terrorists who had returned after fighting the US Army in Afghanistan. These war hardened terrorists are carrying arms and ammunition, including the M-4 rifles, which the US Army left behind while quitting Afghanistan.
Several M-4 rifles have been recovered from slain terrorists in the past few months.
Pakistan it seems has taken advantage of the India-China border tensions, which have been on-going since 2020 and have resulted in large numbers of Indian Army units being moved from the peaceful Jammu region to the Indo-China border in Ladakh as part of Indian Army’s mirror deployment strategy against China.
Due to less security personnel on the western border with Pakistan, Pakistani agencies have started pushing terrorists through the LOC and international border (IB) in the Jammu areas, with most of the infiltration taking place through the LOC in Rajouri and Poonch districts and the IB touching the Jammu, Samba and Kathua districts.
The fresh induction of additional troops and paramilitary forces is aimed at plugging the loopholes on the borders.
Government sources indicate that two battalions of the Central Reserve Police Force will replace the Assam Rifles in Manipur.
In July, Ten Army soldiers and a CRPF jawan have already lost their lives in ambushes set by terrorists.
