Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, Oct 14: General Officer Commanding (GOC) 16 Corps Lt Gen DS Hooda said today that an attempt was being made from across the Line of Control (LoC) to push militants into Jammu and Kashmir to sabotage peace in the State by stepping-up the militant activities but declared that the ever alert Army would never allow such designs to succeed.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a function organised by the Army to felicitate veterans and Veer Naris at Manjakote in Rajouri district, Lt Gen Hooda said a large number of militants were planning to infiltrate into the State from across the LoC but added that they (the militants) wouldn’t succeed in their plans.
“There have been reports that Lashkar-e-Toiba and Jamat-ul-Dawa (JuD) chief Hafiz Sayeed and his associates were provoking the militants in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) to infiltrate into Jammu and Kashmir, indulge in terror activities and sabotage peace,’’ the GOC Nagrota Corps said, adding some incidents of firing from across the LoC were also aimed at abetting infiltration of the militants.
Asserting that situation along the LoC continued to remain tense since August 5 when five Indian Army soldiers were killed by the Pakistani troops in Sarla battalion area at Chakan-Da-Bagh in Poonch district on August 5, he said there has been steep rise in ceasefire violations from across the LoC.
“The incidents of ceasefire violations from across the LoC have gone up. There has been spurt in the firing incidents but we are not taking them lightly. Our response has been equal and effective,’’ he added.
Replying to a question on withdrawal of US and NATO troops from Afghanistan in 2014, Lt Gen Hooda said that could have some impact on the situation in Jammu and Kashmir but the Army was fully alive to the situation and would thwart any attempt by the militants operating in Afghanistan and Pakistan to sneak into Jammu and Kashmir.
“We are monitoring the situation post-US and NATO forces withdrawal from Afghanistan. We are fully alive and vigilant to the situation. We will not allow the violence to surge. The attempts by the militants to infiltrate into the State would be thwarted,’’ the Army Commander said.
It may be mentioned here that withdrawal of US and NATO forces from Afghanistan in the next few months would be high on agenda of Army Commanders’ conference in New Delhi beginning October 21. Security experts believed that Pakistan Army and militant commanders could try to push the militants from Afghanistan and Pakistan into India including Jammu and Kashmir.
The GOC 16 Corps said the Army has reports that militant commanders were delivering provocative speeches to pressurize the militants to infiltrate. He added that 30 to 40 militant training camps were active in PoK and other infrastructure of the militants was also intact there.
“A large number of militants are waiting across the LoC to infiltrate into this side. We have definite reports in this regard. We have put our troops on high alert along the LoC to ensure that the militants didn’t succeed in their designs,’’ Lt Gen Hooda said, adding that the militants have been getting full support across the LoC of the persons, who mattered.
To a question on fidayeen attack at Mehsar Army camp in Samba on September 26 in which four Army soldiers including Second-in-Command of the Unit Lt Col Bikramjeet Singh were killed, the GOC said the militants keep on trying to infiltrate and attack installations of security forces but “we are determined to thwart the militants attacks. Our strategy is in place to check attacks by the militants’’.
Replying to another question that Border Action Teams (BATs) of Pakistan were plotting to take the Indian Army personnel hostage, Lt Gen Hooda said: “this was an impossible task. No one can take our soldiers hostage’’.
On the presence of militants in Rajouri district, the Army Commanders said: “some militants are there but they are very small in number. They are unable to do any action and we will not allow them to do any action’’.
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