Rahul Datta  

While the ceasefire on the 750-km long Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu & Kashmir continues since the two sides decided to maintain peace there last month, the security establishment is wary of Pakistan’s intentions to honour its commitment after general elections there are over in July end.

The Directors of General of Military Operations (DGMO) of the two countries on May 29 talked to each other on the hotline and both the armies issued identical statements announcing ceasefire on the LoC as was done in 2003 during then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s regime.

One month has passed without any incident of cross-border firing but the security establishment has asked all the stakeholders, including the Army and para-military forces, not let their guard down, sources said here on Sunday.

Elaborating upon the apprehensions, they said the Pakistan Army and the ISI are likely to scale up levels of violence after July 25 when elections are over. At present, the all powerful Pakistan Army is engaged in ensuring smooth conduct of elections and has pulled out troops from its border with Afghanistan and Federal Administered Tribal Area (FATA) and Jammu and Kashmir to maintain law and order in the country.

Given this situation, the Pakistan Army has toned down its offensive stance against India on the LoC apart from fomenting trouble within Kashmir. However, officials feel this lull may be short-lived and the security forces have to brace themselves for some “big” terrorist attacks after July 25. They also did not rule out renewed cross-border firing from across the LoC and international border by the Pakistan Army and Pakistan Rangers.

At this juncture with four weeks to go for elections, the Pakistan Army does not want to engage the Indian Army on the LoC due to reduced troops strength on the borders. Things will be different after the elections and the Kashmir valley and LoC are likely to be “hot,” they said.

Pakistan Army targets the Indian Army posts on the LoC in North Kashmir to give covering fire to terrorists to infiltrate into the State. On the other hand, the Indian posts come under fire in Jammu division that is South of Pir Panjal mountain ranges in Poonch and Rajouri as the Pakistan Army wants to dominate the LoC there. This pattern will be repeated after a few weeks.

As regards terrorism in Kashmir, they said nearly 275 terrorists are operating in the Kashmir valley, including 75 foreign terrorists.

After month long suspension of operations against terrorists was called off some days back, the security forces are now pro-actively going after the top leadership and have identified 21 top commanders. If nabbed or neutralised, the lower ranks of three terrorist organisations active in Kashmir, including the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), Lashkar-e-Tayyabba (LeT) and Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) will be in disarray thereby making the forces job easier to keep the levels of violence within manageable limits.

The forces have started combing operations, cordon and search operations (CASO) and seek and destroy operations (SADO) in the hinterland to deny terrorists freedom of space and time. During the one-month long halting of operations during Ramzan, security forces were directed to stop CASO and SADO. Terrorists used the period to move around freely besides regrouping and rearming.

Courtesy: Pioneer: Monday, 02 July 2018