The successful infiltration by four terrorists into Sunderbani of Jammu region from across the Line of Control (LOC) has alarmed the Army as this zone had not witnessed even a single incident of infiltration for more than a decade.

Though the terrorists were subsequently killed in an operation lasting more than three days, the route taken by the intruders has forced the security forces to review their anti-infiltration grid pattern.

This new development will figure prominently during the Army Commanders Conference here next week, sources said.

The Jammu region or the districts, including Poonch and Rajouri besides Jammu located South of Pir Panjal mountain ranges have not seen Pakistan aided and abetted infiltration for last many years. The presence of these well-armed terrorists, therefore, is a cause of concern, officials said here on Friday.

Not ruling out further attempts by Pakistan to widen the arc of terrorism in this region, they said the LoC is about eight to nine kms from the place in Sunderbani where the encounter took place in a wooded area. The main high way connecting Jammu to Rajouri is also close by and the terrorists could have easily hijacked a vehicle and driven either toward Rajouri or Jammu city just 50 kms for a terror attack, they said.

Elaborating upon their apprehensions, officials said this infiltration incident indicated a major change in tactics by the ISI and the Pakistan Army to engage and bog down the security forces in Jammu division by pushing in terrorists.

The LOC in Poonch and Rajouri generally witnesses ceasefire violations by Pakistan in an attempt to dominate it. “But, infiltration is differently ball game,” sources said.

In the past, the terrorists sneaked into Jammu from the International Border in the plains, reached the national highway close by, and then carried out fidayeen attacks on Army and police camps. This was seen in the daring Sunjwan attack last month besides similar audacious assaults last year.

However, the infiltration in Sunderbani region from the LoC is a cause of alarm because the heavily forested area used to be an ingress route for the terrorists in the early 1990s. Aggressive patrolling and real time intelligence provided by local population had helped the security forces in keeping terrorists away from the area.

Courtesy: The Pioneer, Saturday, 31 March 2018 | Rahul Datta | New Delhi